2.

Nexus Constructions (Synt)

I. Intro an NC is a structure centered around a nonfinite verb form, i.e. an infinitive, an ing form, or a past
participle. NC vs. the clause. Just like the clause the N
expresses a predication. In this they are similar and are
based on a predicative relation. The difference is that in
the clause the syntagmatic relations are explicitly
marked (who does what to whom), whereas in the NC
these relations remain in the sphere of logic and open for
interpretation according to the general and the
immediate context. Therefore NCs are more implicit
which makes them a preferred variant of expression in
cases when brevity and implicitness are desired. In Eng
they are much more widely used that in Bg-an. cf.
Working hard, he achieved a lot. He worked hard and he
achieved a lot. NCs may have different functions in the
. a) a S ex. Smoking cigars may damage your health.
b) a predicative ex. She appeared to like it. c) object
ex. I saw this play performed last summer. d) the
attribute ex. His anxiety to meet you is unabated. e)
adverbial modifier ex. He made a fortune by selling
junk food. Relations between the constituents of a nexus
(inside the nexus): 1. S-P relation ex. I saw him run. 2.
P-O relation ex. Seeing the chocolates, I grabbed one.
3. P-AM relation ex. I want you to listen carefully. 4.
S-Cs relation ex. They elected him president. II. Types
of NCs: 1. NC with the infinitive A) Accusativus cum
Infinitivis I saw him smile.
[Nominal Adj form]
Accusativ here means objective. This structure should be
differentiated from the combination Od-Co. cf. I
knocked him flat. I saw him run.
Od Co
The difference between Od and Co on the one hand and
the ACI on the other side is that the ___ relation in the
former is S-Cs, whereas the ___ relation in the latter is
S-P. The ACI is used with the following semantic group
verbs: a) verbs of sense perception see, hear, observe,
watch, notice, feel + infinitive without to. Ex. I heard
the train arrive. I saw him snore. With verbs of mental
perception + to ex. I believe him to have arrived.
She realized him to be a wheeler-dealer. b) verbs of
command, desire and permission command, order, tell,
direct, ask, wish, desire, want, forbid, permit, let, allow
+ to exception let + infinitive without to; Leave
her be. . She ordered me to leave.
A.C.I.
c) verbs of causation cause, get, make, have, force,
compel + to I forced them to leave. Exceptions:
After make and have no to. I had him mow the
lawn. I made him leave the room. With help with to
and without to both are correct. The WO in ACI is
normally accusativis then infinitivus. The reverse WO is
sometimes also possible. Usually after the verb let. Ex.
He let fall the book. She let go my hand. There is a
certain rivalry between the ACI and the participial ing
structure. I saw him run.
I saw him running.
Dry fact ( )
the process ( )
B) Nominativus cum Infinitivo. NCI is in a way passive
variant of the ACI. cf. I saw him run. (ACI)
He was seen to run (NCI)
A major difference between the ACI and NCI is that the
former is an integral, continuous, uninterrupted
structure, whereas the latter is split discontinuous
structure. Another difference is that the particle to is
retained in most cases in the NCI but not in the ACI. A
third difference is that the ACI is used in active voice
sentences while the typical usage of the NCI is after
passive verbs. However, in some cases, the NCI may
also appear with intransitive verbs in the active voice:
seem, appear, happen, chance. Ex. She seems to like it.
He happened to arrive on time. Also after phrases like be
sure, be certain, be likely ex. She is likely to like it. He is
sure to be late. C) the forto construction this
structure is a means of providing the infinitive with
clearly expressed (explicit) subject. It may have the
following functions in the : a) a S For John to marry
this girl would be a disaster. b) a predicative The best
thing is for them to take the appropriate measures. c) an
attribute I gave permission for him to go. d) object
He proposes for you to leave immediately. e) adv mod
She stretched out her hand for me to hold it. 2. NC with
ing form. The ing form is featured in the following
nexus constructions: a) an extrapositional attribute =
loose attribute. This is a supplementive clause with a
covert subject which refers to the main subject of the .
Ex. Saying no word, he gave her a kick.
Loose attribute S
b) absolute construction this is a supplementive clause
having its own subject. Ex. Nobody saying a word, they
left the room. Absolute constructions can be verbless
ex. The lecture over, they went home. Pipe in mouth he
sat by the fire. c) unattached participle in this case the
ing form has no subject of its own and refers to no
specific reference (only general reference, not to
somebody but to anybody in general). Ex. Looking up
the hill a cottage is seen. Such structures are rare but
their use is relatively frequent is certain set phrases. Ex.
Barring accidents he should be here by five. d) nexus
object its in a rivalry with ACI cf. I saw him run. I
saw him running. 3. NC with the past participle. A)
extrapositional attribute. Broken in spirit he retired to his
castle. B) absolute construction The talks finished they
retired to the hotel. C) unattached participle = dangling
modifier. Once married, what could people do. D) nexus
object They found the house burned to the ground

3. Word Order (WO) (Synt)

The WO of the Eng is rather fixed and rigid because it
is extensively employed for signaling the syntagmatic
relations which it other languages are marked by
morphological means. The basic WO pattern of a
language is that of a declarative non-negative, nonemphatic clause, S-V-X, where X is O or C. There are
two kinds of deviations from this basic WO pattern:
A) inversion involves the S and verb: SVX VSX.
B) dislocation - when X is shifted to initial position:
SVX XSV (dislocation inversion) SVX XVS
(dislocation + inversion). Dislocation and inversion are
two fundamentally different phenomena. Inversion has
primarily grammatical function to denote that a is not
declarative. Dislocation has a primarily communicative
function to denote emphasis. There are two types of
inversion: a) functional inversion It has grammatical
function. Ex. He is here. Is he here? = question
forming. b) non-functional (dislocational) inversion
caused by diclocation ex. I had hardly seen her.
Hardly had I seen her. Inversion can also be full and
partial: a) full inversion Vfull S ex. Long live
peace. Here comes the sun. b) partial inversion - Vaux
S -Vfull ex. Hardly had I seen her.
Functional Inversion (grammatical function). This
inversion serves to indicate that the is anything but
declarative. This may occur: a) in questions ex. He is
. Is he?, b) in optative s usually with the
auxiliary may ex. May you never see the light of
day. (partial inversion), also in some fossilized
phrases: ex. Long live peace! So be it! (full inversion).
c) in imperative s but only of the negative type with
the S you (enhanced prohibition) ex. Dont you do
that! (partial inversion), d) in exclamatory s. Here
inversion occurs in very rare cases, only in literary style
ex. How boring is this movie!, e) in conditional
clauses, when if is dropped ex. Had I had money I
would have married.
Dislocational inversion (caused by dislocation). This
kind is best studied along with the different types of
dislocation: 1) dislocation of the S since the S is
normally in initial position it would be illogical to speak
of its dislocation. It makes sense to speak of dislocation
only in the case of the complex discontinuous S with
anticipatory it. ex. It is easy to deny things you dont
understand. (normal case) To deny things you dont
understand is easy. (dislocation of the S), 2) dislocation
of the verb since placing the verb in front of the S
would mean inversion the only possibility of dislocation
of the verb without marking the as inverted is in the so
called existential s with there ex. There arrived a
stranger in the town. There is inversion here but it
doesnt mark non-declarativeness of the . 3)
dislocation of the O: a) with inversion when the O is
accompanied by a negative or limiting modifier ex.
Not
a word
did
he
say.
Neg mod
O
Vaux
S
Hardly
a hint
did
she
drop.
Limit mod
O
Vaux
S
b) without inversion b.1) when the O is (or is
accompanied by) a stress demonstrative pronoun ex.
Can you drink? That I can. Do you know that song. That
song I know. b.2.)in colloquial exclamatory expressions
ex. A fine trade you are learning! b.3) in expressions of
contrast with some some or some others ex. Some
things I can do others I cunt. b.4) in cases of link
emphasis ex. I wanted to solve the problem, and
solved the problem I did. SVO OSVaux. 4)
Dislocation of the Pr: a) with inversion a.1) in
connection with negative or quantitative modifiers. Ex
No coward was he. a.2) in concessive clauses (
) with as ex. Tired as was the man, he
persisted. N.B. There is no inversion however if the S is
a pronoun. Ex. Tired as he was, he persisted. b) without
inversion b.1) when Cs is a stressed demonstrative
ex. He is a shit. That he is. b.2) with link emphasis ex.
I expected her to be a bitch, and a bitch she was. b.3) in
exclamatory s ex. Right you are! However in literary
style inversion does not take place in such exclamations.
Ex. Green is the valley, blue is the sky! 5) Dislocation of
the AM since the AM is relatively dynamic part of the
it is not so fixed as the other parts; of interest are only
the cases of its placing in initial position with inversion.
a) when the AM has negative or restrictive meaning. Ex.
Hardly had he done anything wrong. (restrictive) Never
had she been there. (negative) b) when AM is an adverb
of degree of frequency ex. Often have I lain there. c)
when the AM is expressed by the demonstrative adverbs
thus and so ex. Thus did the story end. So shall we
finish the lecture.
Other cases of inversion: 1) when a statement is repeated
with a substitute verb. But only when the S of the
repeated statement differs from the S of the original
statement ex. Im tired. So am I. (different referents)
cf. You look tired. So I am. (same referent no
inversion). 2) there is full dislocational inversion when
the postfix of the phrasal verb is placed initially. ex. Out
went the lights, in rushed the guests. 3) inversion in
dialogue, in the comment phrase. Ex. No, said he/he
said inversion is possible but not obligatory. Here
inversion is acceptable only with more common verbs
like: say, reply, continue, etc. and should be avoided
with less common verbs like: murmur, add, marvel,
declare ex. No, he added/*added he. Inversion here
is impossible when the common phrase is more
complex. a) when the comment phrase contains an O
ex. No he said to me/*said he to me, b) when the
comment phrase contains a compound verb form, ex. No
said he/he has said/*has he said.

4. The Subject (Synt)

The S is the first main part of the and together with
the predicate it constitutes the predicative bond which is
the structural backbone of the . The S is what the is
about. This definition is relatively acceptable with some
exceptions notably in personal s. Ex. its raining,
where it is not the is about. A more structured
definition of the S should take into account at least three
parameters. A) meaning, b) syntactic relations and c)
morphological realizations. Thus the S is: a) the thing
(including abstract notions) whose features or actions are
/being/ described by the predicate, b) a main part which
does not depend on other constituents and is in a
special agreement with the predicate called subject-verb
concord. It also takes initial place in the clause clause
initial position, c) a typically nominal constituent or any
constituent that has been substantivized. Ex. And is a
conjunction here and functions as S. Types of Ss.
I. Semantically
1. Agentive S Ex. John broke the window.
2. Instrumental S Ex. A stone broke the window.
1 and 2 Ss cannot be coordinated ex. * John and a
stone broke the window.
3. Affected S a) the subject in non-volitional actions
ex. He fell down. B) in the so called medial s. ex. The
chicken is cooking. C) in normal passive structures/s
where affected = patient ex.
The window was broken by John
a patient S
agentive
complement
4. Recipient S a) with verbs of possession: have, own,
possess ex. Marry has a dog. B) with verbs of nonvolitional sense perception: see (but not look at), hear
(but not listen to), smell (not always), taste (not always).
Usually such s do not have imperative and progressive
form in English and do not take adverbial manner ex.
*Quickly she saw the rabbit. C) in passive s with
recipient S ex. The girl was given a book by the boy.
Recipient S
|O. pat| C.ag
5. Locative S The city is clouded.
6. Temporal S It denotes time ex. Yesterday was a
holiday.
7. Eventive S It denotes event ex. The wedding is on
Monday.
Morphological realizations of the S
1. A noun-phrase (N-Ph) the prototypical S constituent
ex. Blood is thicker than water. Here we have simple
N-Ph. The girl you were talking to is my sister. Here we
have a complex N-Ph.
2. Finite clause a) that clause ex. That his wife left
him doesnt make him unhappy. B) Wh clause ex.
What was said above is horseshit.
3. Non-finite clause a) With to+infinitive ex. To say
this in public is stupid.
N.B. If the infinitive has a S of its own it has to be
introduced by for ex. For John to marry Alice would
be the ultimate bliss. B) with an ing form ex.
Saying that you are sorry wont help you.
4. Anticipatory it+a finite or a non-finite clause To
say this in public is stupid It is stupid to say this in
public. There are different approaches as to what the S
is. A) it is the formal grammatical S whereas to say
this is the notional() S. Features of it as a
true S: 1.initial position, 2.involved in inversion and
negation. But it is not what the is about, B) it is
the S (for reasons given above). stupid is the S
complement and to say this is apposition. C) in this
case we have a complex discontinuous S
It is stupid to say this
|___________|
Discontinuous Subject
5. Unstressed there it is a S in the so-called existential
s ex. There is a can under the table. Typically there
is followed by be. A) The status of there is arguable
here. there is like a true S because (see it). B) The
best view here is that there is a discontinuous S. N.B.
Structures with there are very important in English
because they make it possible to shift the real S in postverbal position. This may be necessary for pragmatic
reasons when the S is very clumsy and big and has to be
placed at the end ex. There came the day when we
finally met after 5 years of negotiations.

5. Predicate (Synt)
I. Definition: the P. is the second main part of the and
together with the S it constitutes the predicative bond
which is the structural backbone of the . It ascribes
features to the S and relates to the temporal
characterization of the state of affairs. Normally the P
is a verb as a part of speech but there are also verbless
predications.
II. Types of Ps structurally there are simple and
compound Ps. Morphologically there are verbal and
nominal Ps. The combinations of the structural and
morphological parameters yields four types: simpleverbal,
simple-nominal,
compound-verbal,
and
compound-nominal.
Simple-Verbal P (S-V P) is a finite verb in simple or
compound tense form ex.
She opened the door. The door has been opened.
S-V P
S-V P
The latter counts as simple because, despite the fact, that
there are three verb forms, there is in fact one composite
form of the verb open, it is one sense unit, one
discontinuous verb form. A sub-type of the S-V P is the
so called phraseoligical P. This type comprises two
elements a verb with vague meaning like make, take
etc. + verbal noun the two elements, however, make
one sense unit and cannot be analyzed separately. There
are two sub-types here: a) finite verb + indefinite article
+ verbal noun. Ex Have a smoke/swim/look. Give a
smile. Take a walk. This type indicates a momentary
action and is one of the major means in English of
compensation for the lack of distinction - /
. B) vague finite verb + notable absence +
abstract noun + preposition (usually of). Ex To get
rid of. To catch sight of. To make fun of. To pay
attention to.
Simple-Nominal P (S-N P) it consists of a noun or
adjective without link verb. There are two types: a) in
exclamations expressing absurdity ex. She clever! He a
gentleman! She a bitch! Such expressions are not to be
treated as elliptical s with a supposedly missing verb
because if this missing verb is inserted then the
meaning would be radically different. cf (compare) She
is clever She clever! B) colloquial expressions like
Nice thing beer! Quite serious all this. Such expressions
may be treated as elliptical s because the insertion of a
link verb does not change the meaning of the expression
although the communicative effect would not be quite
the same.
Compound-Verbal P (C-V P) it comprises two verb
forms each bearing separate lexical meaning; the two
elements are semi-auxiliary and a notional part. The
notional form is an infinitive or an -ing form and it
denotes the action of the P; the semi-auxiliary has
either modal or aspective meaning and it is a finite verb
form. Aspective has to do with the manner of the
verbal action, the way the verbal action takes place.
Relevant distinctions here are beginning of action,
ending, duration, stopping, fading etc. As a consequence
of the above there are two main types of C-V P
depending of the meaning of the semi-auxiliary part: A)
modal C-V P, B) aspective C-V P. The meaning of the
modal C-V P can be rendered by the following
structures, a.1) modal verb + infinitive: can work, may
come, would not speak, a.2) verb with a modal meaning
+ infinitive or -ing form. Verbs with modal meanings
are: want, wish, long, crave, desire, hope, intend, etc.
a.3) be or have + infinitive He is to arrive
tomorrow. He has to arrive tomorrow. a.4) be going +
infinitive Hes going to arrive tomorrow. Here belong
phrases like had better/best, would rather ex. Id
rather stay but Id better go.
B) Aspective C-V P in this case the semi-auxiliary
denotes beginning, ending, duration, etc. Verbs with
aspective meaning are: start, keep, cease, proceed, go,
stop, - ex. He began reading/to read.
C-V P
Compound-Nominal P (C-N P) it consists of a link
verb + predicative (subject complement = Cs). The Cs is
the notional part She
is
a
teacher.
V link
Cs
P
Cs relates to the S. The link verb (V link) connects the S
and the Cs and is usually void of lexical meaning. There
are cases, however, when V link features some vestige of
lexical meaning. Ex. She married young = She married
and she was young. In this case the verb married
functions both as a V link and as a full lexical verb. Such
cases are known as double predicates. The V link can
also be in the passive. Ex He was found guilty.
V link
The gradation of weaking of the lexical meaning of the
V link can be demonstrated in the following examples:
a) she went away a child.
Double P it has retained lexical meaning
b) People go naked in the beach.
Less lexical meaning, almost delexicalized but not quite
c) He went mad. No meaning of movement = pure V
link.

6. Predicative (Pr) = Subject Complement (Cs) (Synt)

Cs is a part of the C-N P. ex She is nice. He grew pale.
Cs denotes features of the S, it completes the meaning of
the V link by referring back to the S. Ex. He is a teacher.
_______|
completes
Typically the Cs is an adjectival or nominal constituent
but the prototypical Pr is adjectival because the adj. is a
linguistic element that denotes cha-tics and features.
Classification: 1. According to the meaning of the V
link. A) Stative Prs (Prs of being) they denote a
permanent quality of the S ex. She looks nice nice
in connection with looks denote a stative feature. The
prototypical V link is be. All others are reducible to
be and can be reinterpreted in terms of be. B)
Dynamic Prs (Prs of becoming) these denote a change,
transition in the features or qualities of the subject. The
prototypical V link here is to become and all others are
reducible to it. Ex. He grew pale = He became pale. 2.
According to the degree of integration between the V
link and the Pr: A) Extrapositional Pr. ex- There he sat,
a giant among dwarfs. This kind resembles the
apposition. B)the supplementary predicative (S Pr) ex.
He married young. Here the connection between the V
link and the Pr is more intimate than the
extrapositional; the V link nevertheless has retained
some of its base lexical meaning and has a double
function in this case lexical meaning + link function.
Such cases are called double Prs. S Prs. Can also be used
with active or passive verbs (active in form and passive
in meaning) ex. The house sold dear. The S Pr occurs
also after passive forms. ex The door was painted green.
C) true Prs. (T Pr) the V link is almost void of lexical
meaning and is nothing but a link between the S and the
Cs. Ex. She looks happy. The T Pr unlike the two other
types is inseparably bonded with the V link. In some
cases a particular V link can function with S Pr or T Pr.
Ex. to stand. C.1) He stood godfather to the child. C.2)
She stood 6 feet in her stockings. With C.1. we have T
Pr. the verb is void of lexical meaning and the bond is
inseparable. With C.2 we have vestigial lexical meaning
in the verb (standing upright) a S Pr.
The verbs which typically take Pr of being belong to
three major groups: verbs of appearance seem, appear,
look, show ex The house showed white in the distance,
verbs of taste sound, feel, taste ex The soup tastes sour,
and verbs of continuance continue, remain, rest ex
They continued friends. Typical verbs of becoming are
become, grow, get these are inchoative verbs. Also
verbs of motion come, turn, run, go ex She went mad.
Morphological realization: 1. Since the Cs ascribes
features to the S the prototypical Cs is adjectival. Hence
the first and most typical realization is an adjective
phrase. Ex. Everything went black single adjective
phrase. He appeared glad to see me compound
adjective phrase, consisting of a head glad and a
modifier to see me. Adj Prs can function with passive
V links. Ex Mr. Smith was found guilty. 2. A noun
phrase is the second most common realization of the Pr.
Ex. His death remained a mystery. a mystery simple
noun phrase. Acapulco is the best place there to spend a
holiday. the best place head, to spend a holiday a
modifier. Her son came home a decrepit wreck double
Pr. The Cs in passive s corresponds to the objective
Complement (Co) of active voice s. ex. They elected
him chairman. Him direct object, chairman Co. He
was elected chairman. Chairman Cs. Here we may
have cases with as ex The victim was identified as
mayors son. 3. Prepositional phrase can also be a Pr.
(rare case) ex. He looks of about my age. 4. A finite
clause ex His theory is that women are O.K.
sometimes. We can have a Pr introduced by as ex.
Things remained as they have been in the past. 5. A nonfinite clause two types: a) infinitive clauses usually
preceded by to ex His ambition is to become a
doctor. In some cases introduced by wh word ex.
The problem is where to find her. In rare cases possible
without to. Ex. What I usually do is go out and buy
ax. N.B. If the infinitive has an explicit S of its own it
should be introduced by for ex. The thing to do is for
us to take the stone, B) ing clauses. may or may not
have an explicit S ex Her conduct was putting the cart
before the horse. The most surprising thing was John
being elected chairman.
It is an interesting phenomenon that nouns may acquire
adj-val features when used in the function of Pr. This is
due to the fact that the prototypical Pr is adj-val and
thats why if a noun has the same function it may
resemble the adj. This change of nouns towards adjs can
be observed in the following cases: A) the noun may
take degrees of comparison which finds expression by
different meanings. Ex Im not philosopher enough to
solve this. B) neutralization of gender since gender is
not an absolutely relative category for English an
appropriate parameter for noun is animate vs. inanimate
which does not apply to adjs. By neutralization we
actually refer to neutralization of animateness. So this
parameter can be indirectly manifested by means of the
relative pronouns which vs. who. Ex. When a good
person, which my friend was, leaves you become sad.
Which (not who) refers to good person and indicates
its conception as inanimate entity similar to an adj. C)
loss of definition of article this is not always the case
but it happens. It indicates the adj-val nature of Prs. Ex.
He turned traitor. He stood sentry. D) possessive
pronouns lose their determinative force. This is best seen
in Bg-an. Ex. My friend came to see me. =
He is my friend = .

7. Object (O) (Synt)

Os are part of the complementation of the verb. They
complete the meaning and refer to or denote two
participants directly or directly or indirectly affected by
the v-al action. Typically Os are nominal constituents.
The whole set of verbal complements are complements
on the one hand and Os on the other. Os are
complements of transitive verbs and depending on the
relation to the verbal action they are sub-divided into Od
(direct object directly affected by the verbal action), Oi
(indirect object - indirectly aff) and benefective object
which is very similar to Oi. If there is only one O in the
, it must be Od and such verbs are called
monotransitive verbs. Verbs that take 2 Os are
ditransitive and in most cases they take 1 Oi + 1 Od. The
Oi always precedes the Od. Ex. I gave the girl a dick.
The Oi can be recognized by its position. Such exs,
however, are not typical. The typical case is when the Oi
is animate whereas the Od is inanimate. And then the
distinction anim vs. inanim helps differentiate between
the recipient and the thing received. English
demonstrates a universal tendency: [animate] >
[inanimate]. Thats why if two elements are structurally
identical the animate one would come closer to the verb.
This is due to the fact that language is an androcentric
phenomenon (created by and centred around and on ppl).
There is only one exception to this rule when the Os
are pronouns then the Od may precede the Oi ex I gave
the girl a dick I gave it to her. If, however, the two Os
are structurally different then there is a tendency for the
simper structure to come first. Ex. N.P. > P.P (prep
phrase) I gave a dick to the girl. Ditransitive verbs are
usually verbs like: to give, to show, to send, which take 1
Oi (Ob) + 1 Od. Diagnostic features for Oi are: 1. It
cant stand alone, it must be accompanied by Od. 2. It
can be paraphrased by means of a prep structure with
to and for. There is however a small group of
ditransitive verbs where the distinction Od vs. Oi is
neutralized. Such verbs do not need these criteria. These
verbs are: to teach smbd smth, to forgive smbd smth, to
ask, to envy etc. ex. I forgave my husband his stupidity.
Any of these two Os can stand alone hence none of them
needs criterion 1. Also if we try to paraphrase the
suspected Oi (my husband) we get the following . I
forgave the stupidity to my husband.*hence it does not
need the criterion 2 either. Therefore there is no Oi with
verbs of this group. Such verbs should be treated as
cases with 2 Ois. Vtr+Od1+Od2 where one of the Os is
anim and the other is inanim. This means that the
animacy hierarchy would come into effect here on two
occasions (at least): 1. The word order anim+inanim
ex. I envied my friend his car. *I envied the car my
friend. 2. In the passive. Theoretically any O can be
paraphrased into S in the passive but with these verbs
only the passive with the anim O would be widely used,
whereas the passive with the inanim one would be
marginal. Ex. My friend was envied the car. The car was
envied my friend.? The passive paraphrase is a viable
test for the Ohood of a constituent. So any O in Eng
can be paraphrased as a passive S. ex. She was given a
book. A book was given to her. The children were looked
after in this case even the prep O has been
paraphrased as a passive S. Passivization in Eng is
extremely flexible and is acceptable as long as there is
the slightest idea of affectedness not only with Os but
even with adv. modifiers. Ex. Napoleon has slept in this
bed. This bed has been slept by Napoleon.
affectedness = make famous hence, if a constituent in
Eng can undergo passivization this is considered an
indication of its Ohood (at least some degree of
affectedness).
Semantic types of Os semantically there are different
contents for the Od and for the Oi. A) the Od can be
a.1.) an affected participant referring to a person or thing
which is directly affected or otherwise involved in the
verbal action. This is the typical role of the Od. Ex Jack
broke the bottle.
affected Od
a.2.) effected participant/Od. It denotes smth which exist
by virtue or comes as a result of the verbal action. Ex
Jack invented the bottle. The difference between a.1. and
a.2. is a covert category which can be only indirectly
attested by the so called do to test. cf. What did Jack
do to the bottle? a) he broke it o.k. affected, b) he
invented it - * effected. The type effected or affected is
determined by the semantic contents of the verb. a.3.
Locative Od it denotes location. In most cases this type
results from prep phrases where the preposition has
become redundant. This is a phenomenon that seems to
be gaining ground in Eng. Ex. To walk the streets (along,
through). In Bg-rian to much less a degree.
. A.4. cognate Od. This type
is from the same or similar root as the verb. ex To sing a
song. To dream a dream. A.5. Os of extent or measure
ex. 1. To run a mile. 2. The car weighs a ton. 3. The
blouse costs 10$. These are called so by Quirk. But other
grammars offer another treatments especially for the 2nd and 3-rd exs. Here the Os are called predicator
complements. (a predicator complement is an
indispensable addition to the verb without which the
verb cannot function or its meaning would be different).
Semantic types of Oi: 1. The most typical role of the Oi
is that of a recipient and it is invariably animate. cf. I
found your mother a place in the room.
recipient Oi | Od |
*I found the TV set a place in the room. - Because the
TV set is inanimate. The correct version of this is: I
found a place for the TV set in the room. 2. In rare cases
as an exception we may have expressions like:

gave

the
door
a
kick.
an affected Oi
effected Od
Morphological realization of Os. The main distinction
here is between non-prepositional and prepositional Os.
N.B. Od and Oi are both non-prer-nal. There is no such a
thing as prep Oi. The prep-nal O can be mistaken for the
prep adv-al modifier. cf. He looked at the girl. The
girl was looked at. passive, possible only with prep
Os. Hence at the girl a prep O. ex. He waited at the
corner. *The corner was waited at. A prep adv-al
modifier. The preposition of the prep O is determined
(governed) by the verbal semantics. Whereas the
preposition of the adv-al modifier does not depend on
the verbal semantics, it is determined of the semantics of
the adv-al modifier itself. Another morphological type is
the complex O which consists of two parts which
together from one syntactic unit. The prototypical Oc is
the nexus O. (contains a non-finite verb form) ex I saw
him run/running. In some grammars the combination Od
+Co is also treated as a complex object but this is
arguable. Ex. She made him happy. There is one more
variety of Oc the prep Oc with the forto
construction. Ex They waited for the lecture to be over.

8. Attributes (Synt)
This is a secondary part of the which accompanies
another constituent. The A is not included in the 5 major
constituents SVACO. The constituent to which the A
refers is called its antecedent or head and the relation
between A and head is an attributive relation between an
entity and its features. This relation should be
distinguished from the Pr relation. Since the A denotes
features the typical A is adj and the typical antecedent is
nominal. Syntactically the head of the A can be a S, O,
Pr or sometimes adv. modifier. Types of A: 1. According
to position: a) prepositive A, b) postpositive A. When
dealing with translations one should be careful because
there are certain asymmetrical discrepancies between
Eng and Bg-an. In some cases Eng allows large
prepositive A, which have to be rendered by postpositive
ones in Bg-an. Ex. A mid-thirties car.
30-. And vice-versa. Sometimes in Bg-an
prepositive A with non-finite verb forms especially
participles are quite common but they are to be avoided
in Eng. Ex. . The house
destroyed by a bomb. 2. Semantically: a) restrictive
they are essential for identifying the antecedent. Ex
From all cars in the garage my friend bought the green
car. b) non-restrictive they simply convey additional
info which is not essential for identifying the antecedent.
Ex. My blond husband is very silly.
Morphological realization: I. prepositive As can be
realized by the following items: a) an adj. ex. delightful
cottage, b) a participle: crumbling cottage and completed
cottage, c) an s possessive form a fishermans cottage,
d) a noun phrase a country cottage, e) adv-al phrase a
far away cottage, f) a clause a what-do-you-call-it
cottage. II. Postpositive As are typically realized by nonfinite verbs structures (nexus constructions) 1. Present
participle Ex. The dog barking next door is a bitch.,
The tree, swaying in the breeze, had a lot of fruit. 2. Past
participle ex The car repaired last night is mine. The
substance, discovered almost by accident, has
revolutionized medicine. 3. The infinitive: ex The first
train to arrive was from Siuey Liuey. The scholar, to be
seen daily in the library, chokes the bishop on a regular
basis. 4. Prepositional phrase can also be a postpositive
A. Ex The road to London The girl in the corner
The possessive form with of also belongs here. Ex The
chimney of the house. 5. Adjs some adjs, usually under
French influence, can also be postpositive As. This is
marginal type: blood royal, time immemorial, court
marshal, knight errant. Some adjs on -ble can also
follow the antecedent (which does not mean that they
cannot precede it). Ex Darkness impenetrable filled the
room. 6. A single adv can also be in a postposition. Ex
The road back.

9. The Adverbial Modifier (Synt)

I. Definition: the AM is a secondary part of the
characterizing the verbal action as to time, place,
manner, intensity, quality, condition, purpose, etc. The
AM describes the circumstances for the verbal action.
II. Classifications: 1. According to meaning this is
basically a semantic classification but it also has some
syntactic relevance especially in connection with word
order (WO) which is more or less fixed to the following
pattern: AM time S-V A manner. A place. A time. AM
can be: a) of place and direction ex To live in England,
To go to England, b) of time and frequency ex At 5
oclock, usually, never. AMs of frequency have special
position in the clause: always before the verb but after
the verb be and between the first auxiliary and the rest
of the predicate. Ex. I usually go there. I am usually
there. I am usually walking my dog at 5 oclock these
days. c) of manner ex. He opened the window
carefully. d) of purpose ex. He stopped to have a drink.
e) of cause ex. I was stiff with long waiting. f) of result
ex. She looked back to see them coming. g) condition
ex. If you love me Ill buy thee a car. h) of concession
ex. In spite of the quarrel they remained friends. I)of
subsequent events ex. They went to the country to find
their house burned to the ground. j) of attending
circumstances ex. The sun shining brightly, they went
out for a walk. 2. According to morphological
realization: a) an adv the most typical ex. They often
stayed there. b) a noun phrase ex He visited us last
week. c) prepositional phrase ex. He stayed at a hotel.
The prepositional adverbial modifier (PAM) is similar to
the prepositional O and they can be mixed up
sometimes. cf. I waited at the corner.
Adv. mod
He looked at the girl.
Prep O
Despite the superficial similarity there is a major
difference between such cases. The preposition of the
AM does not depend on the verbal semantics, its
determined by the semantics of the AM itself. Thats
why one and the same verb can be followed by different
PAMs. Ex. I waited at the corner/under the table/on my
back. On the other hand, the preposition of the
prepositional O is determined (governed) by the verbal
semantics. Hence one verb can take only preposition
ex Look at, wait for, look after, wait on. d) non-finite
verb clause (nexus) ex. The weather being fine, they
went out for a walk. He struggled to achieve success. e)
a verbless clause ex. Grateful for my help, they sucked
the hell out of my dick. f) finite clause ex. When they
saw me they ran away. g) absolute construction (nexus
construction with its own S) ex. The meeting over,
they fucked their brains away. The job done, we had a
blowjob. h) a single noun ex. He waited an hour. In
some cases the adv mod can have residual or vestigial
meaning of affectedness and in this way be close to an
object. The affectedness can be attested by the
(im)possibility of passivization. Ex. Nobody has slept in
this bed. This bed hasnt been slept in. Passivization
is possible due to the residual idea of affectedness the
circumstances (the bed) bear some evidence or traces
(affectedness) as a result of the verbal action. This
phenomenon isnt possible in Bg-an. cf.
.

Passivization indicates affectedness of the S. Hence the
bed is affected. 3. According to head word i.e. to
which other constituent the AM relates. Syntactic
classification. The AM can refer to: a) a verb the most
typical case ex. She greasily blew the hell out of my
dick. b) to a verbal noun a noun identical with the
verbal stem Ex. He made a jump forward. c) and adj
pretty often ex. She was intensely happy. d) to an
adverb ex. She feels very well, e) to a - ex. Usually,
we milked the billy goats early in the morning. 4.
According to the degree of integration of clause
structure. Here the main distinction is between the more
integrated (adjuncts) and less integrated, peripheral
(disjuncts and conjuncts). The test for this distinction is
as follows: A: If an AM cannot appear initially in a
negative declarative clause it is an adjunct. Ex. They
quickly left the room *Quickly they didnt leave the
room. Hence quickly is an adjunct. cf. with perhaps.
Ex. Perhaps, they didnt leave the room. Hence
perhaps is not an adjunct. The logic of this test is that
if an AM is closely integrated in the clause then it is
affected by clausal processes like negation and
interrogation and cannot be extracted to clause-initial
position in negative and interrogative clauses. B: If an
AM can be contrasted with another AM in alternative
interrogation (or negation) then it is an adjunct. Ex. He
wen to Sofia on Monday. Alternative interrogation
Did he go to Sofia on Monday of Tuesday. Alternative
negation He didnt go to Sofia on Monday but on
Tuesday. Hence on Monday is adjunct. cf. To my
surprise he wen to Sofia. *Did he go to Sofia to my
surprise or to your surprise? He didnt go to Sofia to my
surprise nor to your surprise. Hence to my surprise is
not an adjunct. If an Am doesnt meet both criteria for
adjuncts it is either a disjunct or conjunct. Conjuncts are
distinguished from disjuncts because they have primarily
connective function conjuncts cannot serve as a
response to any question. Ex. We sent him an invitation.
Therefore, he will be here tomorrow. Will he be here
tomorrow? *Yes, therefore. Hence therefore is a
conjunct. If an AM can serve as a response to a yes/no
question, it is a disjunct. cf. Probably he will be here
tomorrow. Will he be here tomorrow. Yes, probably.
Hence disjunct.

10.Compound sentence (Synt)

According to their structure s are subdivided into
simple and composite. simple s have
only one S-P group(a set of two main
parts-subject and predicate), whereas
composite s contain more than one
clause. Composite s are further
subdivided into compound and complex
sentences. The compound is structured
on the basis of coordination coordinated
clauses, while the complex is
structured on the basis of subordinationsubordinated clauses.
While co-ion is a linking together (by means of
conjunctions) of two or more elements of equivalent
status and function, subordination is a non-symmetrical
relation, holding b/n two clauses X and Y in such a way
that Y is a constituent or part of X. The term
coordination is used by some grammarians for both
syndetic coordination - when explicit indicators of coion are present - and asyndetic one when the
relationship of co-ion is not marked overtly. Explicit
indicators of coordination are called coordinators. ex. 1.
Slowly and stealthily, he crept towards his victim.
(syndetic co-ion) 2. Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards
his victim.(asyndetic co-ion) the possibility of inserting
the coordinator and is evidence that the construction is
syndetic
coordination.
Explicit
indicators
of
subordination are termed subordinators. Both co-ion and
s-ion involve the linking of units, but in co-ion the units
are constituents of the same level whereas in
subordination they are on different levels. ex. his first
and best novel- (co-ion), premodifiers of novel; his
first good novel- (sub-ion),first does not modify
novel directly; it modifies good novel and good in
turn modifies novel.
Differences b/n co-ion and sub-ion: 1. In subordinate
clauses the inf. is not asserted, but presupposed as given.
2. Only with coordination can the order of the two
constituents be changed without a consequent change in
the semantic relationship of the units. * Coordinators are
and, or, and but. The two or more clauses that may be
coordinated are termed conjoins. Of the three
coordinators, and is the least restricted in its role as
coordinator of clauses and but the most restricted. *
Semantic implications of coordination by and. And
denotes merely a relation b/n the clauses. The only
restriction is the semantic one that the contents of the
clauses should have sufficient in common to justify their
combination, i.e. there should be connection b/n the
semantic content of the clauses to motivate their
combination, otherwise a nonsense will occur. ex. * The
people went out for a walk and the equator is equally
distant from the two poles. With and we have eight types
of semantic implication: 1. The 2nd clause is a
consequence or result of the 1st. We have chronological
sequence. Ex. He heard an explosion and he (therefore)
called the police. 2. The 2nd clause is chronologically
sequent to the 1st, but without any implication of causeresult relationship. Ex. She washed the dishes and (then)
she dried them. 3. The 2nd clause introduces a contrast.
And could be replaced by but. Ex. Robert is secretive
and (in contrast = but) is candid. 4. The 2nd clause is a
comment on the 1st. ex. They disliked John and thats
not surprising. 5. The 2nd clause is surprising and the 1st
has concessive force. Ex. He tried hard and (yet) he
failed. Here too but can replace and. The use of
and creates a special rhetorical effect, enhancing the
impression that the 2nd clause is unexpected. 6. The 1st
clause is the condition of the 2nd. Ex. Give me some
money and (then) Ill help you escape. 7. The 2nd clause
makes a point similar to the 1st. ex. A trade agreement
should be no problem, and (similarly) a cultural
exchange could be arranged. 8. The 2nd clause is a
pure addition to the 1st, the only implication being
that the two statements are congruent. ex. He has long
hair and (also) he wears jeans. Semantic implications of
coordination by or: Usually or is exclusive, excluding
the possibility of a realization of all but one of the
alternatives. ex. You can sleep on the couch in the
lounge or you can go to a hotel. Semantic implications
of coordination by but. But denotes a contrast. ex.
John is poor, but he is happy. * Linking of more than
two clauses: and and or can link more than two
clauses, and when this is done all but the final instance
of these two conjunctions can be omitted. ex. John might
take them by car, or Mary might go with them by bus, or
I might order a taxi for them. John might take them by
car, Mary might go with them by bus.

1. Vowel length (Pho)

Since in the formation of a vowel sound no stoppage
occurs anywhere, there is no theoretical limit to the
length of time taken in producing a vowel, except the
necessity for drawing breath, and vowels of the most
varied length can be produced. In Bg-an differences of
length are not employed phonologically and the various
vowels are all roughly the same length and equally short.
In Eng, however, differences of vowel length play a very
important part, and failure to observe this is the chief
cause of bad pronunciation. We can distinguish
differences of vowel length combined with differences
of quality, and differences of length due to position. As
much as the differences of length due to position are
concerned it should be borne in mind that in Eng all
stressed vowels and diphthongs are appreciably longer
when they stand before a voiced consonant than before
an unvoiced one. This lengthening is especially
noticeable when the consonant is in final position, and it
is in fact only owing to its lengthening that the final
consonant can retain its voiced quality instead of
becoming unvoiced in final position. For voiced
consonants differ from unvoiced ones not only in being
accompanied by the voice but in being formed with a
weaker air stream. In order to achieve the necessary
weakening of the air stream its force must be broken by
drawing out the preceding vowel sound. It is in fact
impossible to produce a true d in a word like bid without
either adding a vowel sound after the d, which must be
avoided at all costs, or else lengthening the vowel.
Although the lengthening is most noticeable before a
consonant in final position, it occurs also when an
unstressed syllable follows. Thus greasy may be
pronounces either [gri:zi] or [gri:si], but in the first case
the [i:] is distinctly longer. In this way we can
distinguish four different lengths of vowels in Eng: short
vowels bit, cot, cup, lengthened short vowels bid,
cod, cub, long vowels beat, sort, cart, and lengthened
long vowels bead, sawed, card. Actually, however, it
might be said that lengthened short vowels and
unlengthened long ones are approximately the same
length, differing more in quality that in quantity and that
there are in fact only three different vowel lengths. Of
course it must be borne in mind that in all these cases we
are speaking not of the absolute, but the comparative
length. The absolute length will depend on the speed
with which a person is speaking; in slow speech the
absolute length of a short vowel may actually be
considerably longer than that of a long vowel in rapid
utterance, but whether the speech is slow or rapid these
relative differences of length will always be preserved.
The length also depends to some extent on the quality of
the vowel; closed sounds are as a rule slightly shorter
than open ones under similar circumstances, but these
differences are of little importance since they depend on
psychological tendencies common to all speakers. Apart
from these positional lengthenings there is a distinct
tendency to lengthen the short vowels in certain more
commonly used words, especially [] sounds, to a lesser
extent [e] too. For example the adjs bad and sad are
generally pronounced with a much longer [] than the
less frequent lad or pad. And here one might be inclined
to attribute the lengthening to the emotional quality or
the adjs. But it is hard to see any emotional quality in the
nouns jam and bag that they should be similarly
lengthened, though the corresponding words are not.
There is even sometimes a lengthening of [] before
unvoiced consonants in back and that. A similar
lengthening [e] occurs in bed, dead (compared with fed,
tread), and especially in yes, which when spoken by
itself is almost always long; sometimes of other vowels
too in big and good (compared with pig and hood).
Further factors determining vowel length are emphatic
stress, and also rhythm, which is of considerable
importance. Attention to rhythmical lengthening is
extremely important for a good pronunciation.

2. Word stress (Pho)

Not all parts of a word are pronounced with equal force.
In words with more than one syllable, at least one of the
syllables will stand out more strongly than the others and
is said to bear the stress or accent. The difference
between stressed and unstressed syllables is common to
all languages, but the rhythm and stresses of English,
with its tendency towards words of one syllable, are very
different from those of Bulgarian with its polysyllabic
flow. Above all the amplitude of the stress, the difference
in force b/n stressed and unstressed syllables, is very
much greater in English than in Bulgarian. In
comparatively recent times large numbers of manysyllabled words have been borrowed from foreign
sources, mainly Latin words sometimes of as many as
seven syllables, like indivisibility. In such cases its
impossible to pronounce all seven syllables with only
one stress; the rhythmical principle asserts itself, and
besides the main or primary stress a rhythmical
differentiation makes itself felt in the unstressed syllable,
some of which are more strongly stressed than others,
without however rivaling the primary stress in force. In
such cases we speak of secondary stress: indivisibility
has e.g. stresses on the 1 st and 3rd syllables besides the
main stress on the 5th ,indiv,izibiliti. Also a large
number of words are compounded of two parts, each of
which may retain its original stress, as in arm-chair. In
such cases we speak of double or level stress.
Single stress
It is hardly possible to give any definite rules for the
position of the main stress in English. In words of native
origin it is nearly always the 1 st or the root syllable that
is stressed, while in words of Latin origin the main stress
is not very often drawn forward beyond the 3 rd syllable
from the end, though it may fall on any of the last three.
The chief exception to this tendency is when a native
suffix like ly or ness is added to a Latin polysyllable
with the stress on the 3 rd last syllable grammatically.
But there are also foreign suffixes that allow the stress to
very early, especially atory in words like masticatory,
dilatory, laboratory. One may also note that every
word in English has some sort of stress on one of the 1 st
two syllables, though it may be only a comparatively
weak secondary stress that may even be disregarded in
phonetic transcripts. With very few exceptions( refugee,
personel), in polysyllables of French origin the stress is
usually withdrawn from the final syllable to the
preceding secondary stress, which is in fact mostly the
3rd syllable from the end: exercise, ability.
There are a considerable number of suffixes that
definitely fix the position of the stress.
1. words of recent introduction in esce, -ee, -eer,
-ier, -ese, -oon, -esque, -ique, ose, -ie, ette stress the
suffix itself: coalesce, absentee, pioneer, grenadier,
Chinese, poltroon, picturesque, unique, grandiose,
bourgeoisie, coquette.
2. adjs. in ismal and tic stress the penultimate:
baptismal, sadistic.
3. words in ion, -ious, -eous, -uous, -ial, -eal,
-ual, -ean et al. Stress the syllable immediately before
the prefix: occupation, envious, righteous, impetuous,
celestial, corporeal, perpetual, Mediterranean.
4. words in ize, -ise [aiz] yse, ate, (verbs only),
-ite,-ute, -fy stress the antepenultimate: recognize,
exorcise, analyse, (but characterize), investigate,
desolate, attitude, satisfy, definite. If however the form
consists of only two syllables the original stress on the
final syllable is retained: devise, locate, complete, defy,
delute etc.
5. the native suffixes like dom, -fold, -ful, -hood,
-less, -ly, -ness, -ship, ward etc. have no effect on the
stress which remains that of the simplex.
Double stress
Double stress occurs most frequently with regular
compounds in which each part presents a separate idea.
The most important prefixes taking double stress are: a)
those implying a negative, or the opposite of the simple
word: a-, an-, anti-, dis-, in-, im-, il-, ir-, mis-, non-, un-,
Except with anti- and non- is more or less optional, and
secondary stress may be used instead: amoral,
analphabetic, anticlimax, disconnect, insincere, illegal,
imperceptible,
irregular,
misprint,
nonpayment,
unknown. If the second element is used in a different
sense or function from the simplex, single stress will be
used: mistake, nonstop. b) those implying a
quantitative qualification of verbs and adjs: half-, over-,
under-, out-, super-, ultra-; half-done, over-ripe,
underestimate, outgeneral, superfine, ultramodern. c)
those implying a temporal qualification mainly of verbs
and adjs: ante-, pre-, post-, re-; antedate, prepaid,
postwar, recover. d) those implying a relationship with
nouns, though the resulting form may be used
attributively: joint-, inter-, sub-, under-, vice-, arch-;
joint-ownership, inter-league, sub-dean, under-secretary,
archbishop. e) those implying directions in combinations
serving as adverbs and adjs: up-, down-, under-, over-,
out-, in-, trans-; upstairs, downstairs, overhead, indoors,
outside, trans-Atlantic. When used as attributes many of
these forms lose their second stress for rhythmical
reasons. f) the numerals compounded with teen
(thirteen) form a distinct group that may be included
here. A great many of the words with double stress do
not always preserve both stresses except in isolation.

3. Basic melodies of Eng intonation (Pho)

Intonation may be defined as the variations of pitch
within a or breath group, i.e. the part of a
contained between two sense pauses. These variations
produce a certain melody. But the number of melodies
made use of in a given language are not infinite, they
can be reduced to a certain number of types, of which
there are five main ones in Eng. In Eng the melody is in
the main determined by the so called kinetic tones in
which the pitch of the voice is lowered or raised, or both
lowered and raised within a single syllable hence the
name, because the voice is in motion all the time the
tone is being formed. Every breath group contains one
such kinetic tone which determines the type of melody.
For that reason it is also called the nuclear tone of the
. The remaining tones within the are in themselves
level as a rule, though they are mostly arranged in a
definite scale leading down to less frequently up to
the kinetic tone, which in normal, unemphatic speech is
the last stressed syllable of the breath group. What
comes before the nuclear tone mostly the greater part
of the - is known as the head of the group, the
syllables after the nucleus form the tail. If the group
consists of a single monosyllable, head and tail will both
be missing, but the essential part of the melody, the
kinetic tone, will still remain and since we can recognize
5 types of kinetic tone, we have a corresponding number
of melodies. I. The falling tone: `yes, `there (its there).
The extent of the fall can express various shades of
meaning, from a simple statement to exasperation at
somebodys stupidity. II. The rising tone: yes?, there?
It expresses either a question or a suggestion that the
statement is not finished, that there is something more to
follow, or at least that whatever statement has been made
is not intended as very definite. III. The fall-rise tone:
`yes? (do you really mean to say so?), ` there? (is really
there?). Since it is fact emphatic form of tone II it mostly
expresses the same meaning, but with the addition of
doubt, uncertainty, surprise. IV. The rise-fall tone: `yes
(of course, its obvious), `there (its there, cunt you
see!). The rise-fall often suggests a certain sense of
superiority on the part of the speaker, but also, if the
whole tone is raised, glad, surprise or enthusiasm. V.
The rise-fall-rise tine: ~yes (Im not at all sure that I
agree, but well wait to hear the rest), ~there! (you cant
possibly mean that its there, do you!). This tone often
contains a tone of flattery or ingratiation or sometimes
a rather querulous compliant.

2. The Noun (Morph)

I. General characteristics:
1. Semantics - The Noun as a word class is the main
nominative unit of language. It has the categorial
meaning of entity (thing, person, animal, abstract
notion). The N has the power by way of nomination to
isolate different properties of substances, situations and
present them as self dependent entities. Ex. Her words
were unexpectedly bitter.(adj.). They were struck by the
bitterness of her words.(ab. noun).
2. Form as a grammatical class the N is characterized
by a set of formal features which determine its specific
status in the paradigm of nomination.
Ex. Man man, men, mans, mens (the paradigm)
The N class has its word building distinctions:
a)
Typical suffixes. Ex. Discrimination, freedom
b) Compound stems. Ex. Passer-by, rainbow, knighterrant
c) Nouns produced through conversion, Ex. Walk (N,V)
the class of the N discriminates the gram. categories of
number, case, gender and article determination.
3. Syntactic functions typical of the N class are the
functions of subject and object and sometimes noun
modifier (attribute) Ex. A film festival (attribute) Ex. He
is a student (subject complement) Ex. They elected him
president (object complement)
II. Semantic classifications of N. The class of N can be
divided into several subclasses depending on the
semantic and gram. features of the lexemes. The most
important division of N from the point of view of
Grammar is into proper and common N. However there
is no strict line of demarcation: proper N as Sunday,
April, Easter represent concepts that are not strictly
speaking unique but recur at regular intervals. On the
other hand common N like The Sun except in the
language of astronomy denote unique referents. There
are nouns like Heaven and Hell which partake to a large
extent of the nature of proper nouns.
Common N be further subdivided into countable and
uncountable. Countable N represent a separate entity,
smth. complete in itself which maybe either concrete
(material) or abstract (immaterial). Uncountable nouns
denote referents of continuous quantity; Uncountable N
do not represent definite entities and therefore are
indifferent to the category of number. U.N. too maybe
subdivided into concrete or abstract. The concrete
countable nouns might be also subdivided into
individual N and collective nouns (improper family,
orchestra, parliament). The U.N. concrete may be
subdivided into several mass N and collective nouns
proper (furniture, cattle)
Proper nouns give the name of some unique individual,
place or other entity. Common nouns give the name of a
species of things or concepts.
DA TABLE!
III. Shift of semantic subclasses the classification of N
into categories such as proper and improper, countable
and uncountable is founded on separate meanings of the
nouns. Words are constantly widening the limits of their
meaning, often in such a way that they develop a
secondary meaning which may represent a diff. category
from that of the basic meaning. Ex. Hooligan (family
name)
Sometimes the connection between the various
meanings of the lexeme is still felt. Ex. tin (metal) a tin
(metal box).
Pr. N. into C. N.
The proper noun as a rule gives the name of a unique
referent and as a rule it is not capable of forming a
plural, nor is it necessary to define it by means of the
article. Yet the proper noun may undergo shifts of
meaning which will convert it into a common noun, and
it will than be treated like any other common noun. This
mostly happens in one of the following ways:
a) persons bearing the same name. Ex. She was a
Stewart.
b) persons with similar characteristics. Ex. Edisons and
Markonies may thrill the world with astounding
novelties.
c) by metonymy the mane of the author may stand for
his works. Ex. This picture is a Rubens
d) parallel forms may exist with geographical names Ex.
The two Americas.
Common N. into Proper N.
Many Pr.N. have developed out of C.N. ex. a smith the
Smiths
Unc.N. into Count.N.
ex. beauty a beauty
Unc.N. like pr.N. do not form a plural, nor do they take
the article as a rule. By a shift of meaning an Unc.N. can
easily be converted into C.N. and will then be treated
grammatically as a C.N. This happens:
a) a mass word can be used as a countable in the sense of
a portion.
b) a mass word may be used as a countable in the sense
of a particular kind ex. dry wines, a light white wine
c) a word of substance may be used by metonymy for
something made from it. Ex. cloth a table cloth, copper
a copper.
Abstract into concrete nouns - abstract nouns may take
on a more concrete meaning becoming countable in this
way. Ex. beauty a beauty
Concrete into abstract nouns
- the opposite
development, the transition from the concrete to the

abstract is not always separable from the transition, from

the countable to the uncountable. Ex. go to bed go to
the bed
IV. Partitive phrases in spite of the comparative
frequency of various shifts of subclasses, not all
uncountable nouns can be directly converted into
countable nouns. Often we have to resort to various
partitive phrases in order to make the meaning of the
uncountable nouns individual and concrete. Ex. a piece
of advice, of furniture.
I. Structure of the noun phrase it consists of several
structural positions: determiner (pre-modifier) and head
(post modifier).
The head position is obligatory within this structure. It is
most frequently occupied by a noun. The noun however
on its own is only a lexical item. In order to acquire
some grammatical status and be included in a larger
structure it has to be accompanied by some grammatical
determinant (a girl). The indefinite article attributes the
indefinite gram. status. The determiner position is
obligatory. The pre and post modifying positions are
optional. The pre-mod. position can be occupied by an
adj. the beautiful girl. A noun can function as a premodifier a film festival. The postmod. position can be
occupied by prepositional phrase the beautiful girl at
the first desk. By a participial construction the
beautiful girl sitting at the first desk. By a relative clause
the beautiful girl who is sitting at the first desk.
II. Determiners:
1. articles(a, the) the use of the articles is not the only
possibility for determining nouns in the gram. sense of
the word. There are other lingual units that function in a
similar way: possessive, demonstrative, interrogative,
indefinite, negative, defining pronouns. These words are
called determiners. They constitute a closed system. This
means that they are of limited number and their number
cannot be expanded by the creation of additional
elements. Within this system the articles are central that
is they have no function independent of the noun they
precede. Furthermore the articles have no lexical
meaning of their own but only contribute definite gram.
status to the nouns they determine. The dependence is
not unilateral. The definite article can occur with
common countable and uncountable nouns. a/an can
occur only with single nouns. the articles and the rest of
the elements in this closed system are closely connected
with the nouns they determine. In addition to
determiners there is a large number of other items that
occur in determinative function in combination with
some central determiner. We can divide those units into
two groups: pre and post determiners. Predet. are unique
in occurring before the determiner. they can be grouped
into three varieties:
a) all, both, half
b) multiplier double, twice, thrice
c) fractions
Pre-determiners are reciprocally exclusive
2. Can be subdivided into:
a) ordinals first, other, last. There are two kinds of
patterning with ordinal numbers: first, next + cardinal
numbers = first two
Second, third and the other ordinals cannot be followed
by any quantifier and modify singular countable nouns.
cardinals and quantifiers are mutually exclusive.
b) Cardinal numbers are used in the following way: one
accompanies singular countable nouns, two, three
combine with plural countable nouns. ex. all the four
brothers are sailors.
c) quantifiers many, little, more, several. These are
mutually exclusive several occurs without an indefinite
article. Ex. several charming girls. Plenty of, a lot of,
lots of also function as post determiners.
3. articles with common nouns concrete countable
nouns are used with generic reference. When it is used
like this the distinction between singular and plural and
the distinction between definite and indefinite are gram.
irrelevant. Ex. Kittens like to play. A kitten likes to
play.
4. common countable nouns used with specific
reference. Ex. there is a kitten playing on the sofa.
Some kit..
5. abstract nouns as a rule do not take an article when
standing alone. Ex. you must learn to face life seriously
sometimes concrete nouns acquire abstract meanings
this shift of meaning results in a shift of semantic
subclass. Such nouns are treated as uncountable. ex.
outside it was night.
III. the use of articles with proper nouns proper nouns
can be divided into two groups: given and descriptive
names. Given are conventional designations that tell us
nothing about the referent itself. Descriptive are derived
from common noun, usually with some defining
modifier. Ex. the US of A. Descriptive names as a rule
include an article. The Netherlands, the Ukraine. Names
of people are among the most typical examples of given
names. When standing alone names of people do not as a
rule take an article. If however the name is accompanied
by an adj., the use of an article becomes necessary. The
definite article is included in the structure of the phrase
when the adj. denotes some permanent quality of the
referent of the noun. Ex. The immortal Shakespeare.
Exceptions: the adj. young, old, poor, little do not take
the article because they are considered to be forming
part of the name itself.

3. Number (Morph)
I. Definition number is a grammatical category of the
English noun based on the functional opposition of two
categorial sets of forms: singular and plural. The term
singular is used when the noun refers to a single
individual, place, object, and notion. The meaning of the
singular form is one. The term plural is applied when
the noun is used to refer to more than one individual,
place, object, and notion. Therefore the opposition of
singular vs. plural is semantically an opposition between
one vs. more than one. In regard of the category of
number all English nouns ca be divided into two major
groups:
Variable nouns have two forms, and invariable nouns
have only one form which may be either singular or
plural. Within the group of invariable nouns we have to
distinguish between singular and plural. Within the
group of the singular we can recognize the following
subgroups:
a) mass nouns (silver, milk)
b) uncountable abstract nouns (love, hate)
c) proper nouns (John, the Danube)
d) some nouns in s (news, physics)
e) substantivised adj. abstract noun (the good, the evil)
Singular invariable nouns are always associated with
singular verb forms. Plural invariable nouns always
require plural verb forms. Here belong the following
subgroups:
a) summation pl. nouns (trousers, glasses)
b) some proper nouns (the Balkans, the Netherlands)
c) some nouns in s (thanks, goods)
d) unmarked pl. nouns (kettle, police)
e) substantivised adj. :personal plural
II. patterns of pl. formation variable nouns employ
various patterns of pl. formation
a) regular (books, boxes)
b) voicing (house, houses) it affects spelling as well as
pronunciation.
c) en pl. form (ox, oxen)
d) mutation (man, men) change in the root vowel
e) zero pl. (aircraft, series, Chinese)
f) forcing pl. patterns many loan words still retain their
pl. ending (datum- data)
III. nouns of differentiated pl.
There are countable nouns the pl. form of which has
developed a meaning altogether different from the
meaning of the sg. form (arm-arms). Uncountable nouns
sometimes can develop pl. forms with differentiated
meaning (regard-regards). Pl. of compound nouns
(waterfall-waterfalls)
IV. nouns of measure. When a noun of measure is not
preceded by a numeral it follows the pattern of pl.
formation (thousands of people). If the noun of measure
is preceded by a numeral the pl. remains unmarked (two
hundred books). Phrases with nouns of measure are
often used as pre-mod., in this case they occur in as form
which is unmarked for the plural (a five dollar bill).
Sometimes mass nouns occur in the pl. This use is
stylistically marked (the waters of the Nile).
V. subject verb concord. Verbs functioning as predicate
agree in number and person with the noun subject. This
phenomenon is morphologically realized in three
different ways:
a) gram. concord: sg. noun accompanied by a sg. verb
b) notional agreement (the public are tired of false
promises)
c) proximity (neither the teacher nor the students have
the key to that door neither the students nor the teacher
has the.)
VI. rules of agreement:
a) prepositional phrases modifying the subject do not
affect subject-verb agreement. (the chair on which you
are sitting is broken)
b) relative clauses modifying the subject do not affect
subject-verb agreement (a person who reads a lot of
books enlarges his knowledge)
c) defining pronouns such as everybody/one require a sg.
verb form (everyone is enjoying themselves)
d) after or, nor the verb agrees with the noun
immediately preceding it.
e) names of countries are treated as sg. units and require
sg. verb forms (the USA is a great country)
f) in collective sports the name as of countries are
associated with plural verb forms (France were doing
their best to win the cup)
g) with units of time, distance and money sg. verbs
should be used (two hundred levs is too expensive for a
coat).
h) link verbs should agree with the subject in person and
number. (his subject is mammals)
i) the determiners all/some/most of agree in number
with the noun immediately following them. (some of
the students failed)

comparison. Ex. good better best; near nearer

nearest(next).

4. Case (Morph)
I. Definition - it is a gram. category of the noun which
denotes relations of the noun to other words in the
sentence. Case in English is based on the functional
opposition of two categorial sets of forms: common case
form and genitive case form. The common case form is
unmarked. It denotes various relations of the noun to the
verb in larger syntactic structures.
Ex. Tom(unmarked pr.n.) is a student(unmarked com.n.).
The genitive case form denotes the relation of the noun
to another noun within a phrase. Ex. Toms arrival.
The genitive case is formed by means of :
1. the apostrophe s an hours walk
2. the apostrophe alone My friends house.
3. plural nouns that follow irregular plural patterns
attach the apostrophe s womens college
4. proper names ending in s may take the apostrophe s
ending or only the apostrophe when they are written.
However, s should be pronounced. Ex. Burns/Burnss
poems.
5. the gram. ending marking genitive case can be
attached not only to a single noun but also to a noun
phrase or to a group of nouns. ex. My neighbors childs
toy.
II. The number of nouns which may be used in the
genitive case form is limited. The form commonly
occurs with animate nouns denoting human beings. Ex.
Marys job.(pr.n.).
The partys platform(collective
impr.n.).
Animate nouns denoting higher animals. Ex. The loins
cage.
Inanimate nouns denoting periods of time: A few days
trip.
Inanimate nouns denoting distance and measure: A ten
miles walk.
Names of continents, countries, towns and universities:
Europes future.
In set phrases: To keep out of harms way.
III. Structural types of genitive case phrases.
1. the dependent genitive this is a construction in
which a noun in the genitive case precedes another noun
which functions as head of the phrase. The relations
between the nouns in the genitive case may be of two
kinds accordingly we may distinguish between the
specifying genitive phrase and the descriptive genitive
phrase.
a) the specifying genitive the noun-head in such
structures is used with specific reference. (Marys
suitcase.) The specifying genitive may be replaced if
necessary by a prepositional phrase(with of). The
suitcase of Mary.
b) the descriptive genitive the head-noun of such
phrases is used with genetic reference.
A doctors
degree.
The descriptive genitive cannot be paraphrased by the
means of the prep. of.
(womens college = college for women). In some cases
genitive phrases of this type have become set phrases or
even idiomatic phrases. (A cats paw)
2. the independent genitive there are phrases in which
a noun in the genitive case is used without the head
noun. The independent genitive may be used with nouns
denoting trade a grocers shop.
Other nouns
denoting place They were married at St. Pauls.
3. the double genitive sometimes we find a
combination of the apostrophe s ending and the prep. of.
He was an old business client of fathers. ...one of
fathers clients.
4. the elliptic genitive Johns is a large house.
IV. semantic classification of the genitive case structure.
The more common meanings of the G.C.S. are:
1. the meaning of possession My brothers room.
2. the subjective genitive case meaning Toms arrival.
Tom arrived.
3. objective meaning Johns exmatriculation. = John
is
4. the genitive of origin The hunters story.
Sometimes the genitive case may be ambiguous.
Caesars murder

5. Gender (Morph)
G. has a relatively small part in English grammar. In
Engl. the category of G. is a reflection of the biological
category of sex which means that we can speak of G.
only with animate nouns and especially with nouns
denoting human beings and higher animals. In English
the category of G. is covert (theres no formal gender
marker in the noun itself or in the article). We can speak
of G. in English only when animate nouns have to be
substituted by personals or by a relative pronoun. These
five pronouns are called gender sensitive pronouns
because they change in accordance with the G. of the
noun they refer to. We can subdivide English nouns into
two subclasses:
a) nouns denoting G. b)nouns of neutral G. these are
mostly inanimate nouns which are used without
reference to biological category of sex.
On the basis of the use of gender sensitive pronouns we
can group the English nouns in the following way: a)
animate nouns, human beings, masculine G. ex. man,
father, husband - who, he b)animate nouns, human
beings, feminine G. ex. woman, mother, girl she, who
c) animate nouns, human beings, dual class membership
ex. baby he, she, who, it d) animate nouns, collective
ex. family it, which e) animate nouns, higher animals,
masculine G. ex. bull, tiger it, he, which f)animate
nouns, higher animals, feminine G. ex. cow it, she,
which g) animate nouns, higher animals, common
gender group ex. lamb it, he, she, which h) animate
nouns denoting higher animals and collective ex. herd,
flock it, which i) animate nouns, lower animals ex.
ant, bee it, which j) inanimate nouns ex. it it, which
k) inanimate nouns, higher organisms the use of
gender sensitive pronouns in this case is emotionally
based ex. ship it, she, which.
When the names of countries are considered as political
or economic units they can be treated as feminine nouns.
ex. France has firmly established her international
prestige. As geographical units the names of countries
are treated as inanimate nouns. ex. Bulgaria is a small
country. It is. In collective sports the names of
countries are treated as collective nouns and replaced by
they. Ex. Bulgaria did their best to win the cup.
In cases of personification certain nouns can be
substituted by gender sensitive pronouns. Nouns treated
as masculine: death, war, anger, time, the sun etc. nouns
treated as feminine: night, nature, the moon etc. other
linguistic means to denote sex of the noun referent: 1.
derivation hunt, hunter, huntress 2. compounds
boyfriend, tom-cat 3. pairs or groups of nouns horse,
stallion, mare.
Gender based language.
In many cases the use of language is gender biased. Ex.
Every student will have his mark... (fatherland, airhostess). To avoid such use we can substitute gender
sensitive pronouns she/he with they with reference to the
defining pronouns.
Ex. Everybody was enjoying
themselves.
Instead of using either he or she with reference to the
defining pronouns we can use she-he/her-his. Instead of
a derived noun we can use a phrase. Ex. flightattendant, police-officer.

7. Adjective (Morph)
I. morphological structure acc. to it the adj. can be
classified into:
1. simple adj. these consist of the root morpheme only.
Ex. good, young.
2. derivative adj. these are formed by means of
affixes(prefixes) pre-war, immoral
suffixes
colourless, warlike
3. compound adj. these usually consist of two roots.
ice-cold, blue-eyed
4. participials these are adjectivised participles. Ex.
interesting, astonished. The usual place of participials is
before the noun they qualify. Occasionally participials
may be placed after the noun. Ex. He was a gentleman
born.
II. Lexical meaning acc. to meaning adj. can be
classified into qualitative, relative and adj. of number
and quantity.
1. Qualitative adj. denote qualities in various degrees.
An important gram. feature of most qual. adj. is that they
can express comparison by means of specialized gram.
forms high, higher, highest
2. relative adj. qualify an object by relating it to another
object(wooden table), they do not express comparison.
3. adj. of number and quantity several, numerous,
enough etc. some of these can express comparison. Ex.
little less least
III. Adj. can be substantivised. A word is said to be
substantivised if it has acquired to a certain extent the
features characteristic of a noun. These features are: a)
the ability to form a plural ex. a savage savages
b) the ability to have a genitive case form: The savages
hut.
c) the ability to take articles: a savage the savage
d) the ability to be modified by an adj.: a warlike savage
e) the ability to function as subject or object of the
sentence
If an adj. can have all these forms and functions it is said
to be fully substantivised. By the reverse process a noun
can be adjectivised. A gold rin.
IV. Syntactic functions in the sentence these are of
noun modifier(silken hair), predicative(She is beautiful),
object complement(Tom painted the fence green). When
the adj. functions as a noun modifier it can occupy a
position either before or after the head noun. With single
adj. the premodifying position is more frequent. Ex. She
was carrying a heavy bag.
Post position is usual with coordinated adj. ex. The
wolf, ferocious and intimidating, frightened the dogs.
Adj. with complementation occur in post position. Ex.
She was carrying a bag heavy with money.
Single adj. rarely occur in post position. Ex. It was relief
unspeakable.
Adj. functioning as predicative occurs after the link
verb. It can be occasionally dislocated and placed at the
beginning of the sentence. Dislocation entails inversion.
Dislocation is possible when stylistic effect is intended.
Ex. Green were the hills under the spring sun.
Order of adj. Adj. denoting subjective features of the
noun referent neednt be placed immediately before the
noun they modify. Adj. denoting objective features of the
noun referent should be placed next to the noun.
Objective feature adj. should follow a specific order:
size, colour, type, material etc.
Ex. a beautiful purple long-sleeved silk blouse.
V. Comparison it is a functional semantic category; it
is inherent in adj. denoting qualities or number.
Semantically, we can distinguish the following varieties:
a) comparison of equality. Ex. she is as ugly as her
sister.
b) comparison of inequality. Ex. she is not so beautiful
as her sister.
c) comparison of superiority. Ex. she is more beautiful
than her sister.
d) comparison of inferiority. Ex. she is less beautiful
than her sister.
e) comparing different qualities within the same referent.
Ex. he is more good than bad.
f) comparing two stages of one and the same quality
within the same referent. Ex. Varta the better batteries.
g) parallel comparisons. Ex. the more the merrier. (no
noun referent occurs in the referent structure). These are
actually correlations of two comparisons in proportion or
in relation. If the person or thing whose quality is being
compared is not included in the group, the comparative
degree form of the adj. is used. Ex. Jane is prettier than
the other girls.
The superlative degree form is used when the person or
thing whose quality is being compared is included in the
group. Ex. Jane is the prettiest of the girls.
Occasionally the superlative degree form is used without
implying any comparison. Ex. Ill do it with the greatest
pleasure. The superlative degree form denotes a very
high degree of the quality. Ex. Everybody has been most
kind to me.
One syllable adj. express the category of
comparison by means of the gram. endings er, -est.
Polysyllabic adj. express comparison analytically. Ex.
She is more beautiful than her sister.
Adj. consisting
of two syllables ending in y(happy), -er(clever),
-le(gentle), -ow(narrow) employ gram. endings er,
-est. the rest of the two syllable adj. usually express
comparison analytically. Exceptions are common and
pleasant(-er, -est). Some adj. have irregular form of

8. Adverb (Morph)
I. Definition the adverb is a class of words expressing
either the degree of a quality (she is very ugly) or the
property of an action (he runs fast) or the circumstances
under which an action takes place. Adverbs modify adj.,
verbs or other adv. (he runs very fast).
II. morphological structure according to their
morphological structure adv. can be classified in the
following way:
1. simple adv. these are adv. which are not derived
from any other word classes and consequently lack any
affixes. (then, there, here, now, enough, quite, still)
2. derivative adv. are derived from other word classes by
means of various suffixes (headlong, clockwise)
3. compound adv. these contain more than one root
morphemes.(nowhere, sometimes, anyway)
4. phrasal adv. (at last, at least, at once, till now)
5. flat adv. as far as their morph. str. is concerned they
belong to the group of the simple adv. Their peculiarity
is that they coincide in form with the corresponding adj.
(he is a fast runner) some flat adverbs have a
corresponding adv. ending in -ly (hard-hardly)
the two adv. may or may not be differentiated in
meaning (tight-tightly)
III. categorial meaning of adv. acc. to meaning:
1. of manner modify verbs. (kindly, hard, unawares)
2. of quantity or degree modify adj. or adv. (very,
entirely)
3. of time (now, before, still)
4. of frequency frequency of occurrence of an action
modify verbs (seldom, often, usually)
5. of place denote place or direction (here, upwards,
ashore)
6. of cause and consequence (why, hence, therefore)
function as coordinators in complex sentences
7. of comment express modal meaning the speakers
attitude towards the relation between reality and the
verbal situation denoted (probably, presumably,
undoubtedly)
IV. degrees of comparison adverbs of manner have
degrees of comparison. One syllable adv. and the adverb
early from their degrees of comparison by means of
the grammatical endings -er, -est. Most of the adv. have
analytical forms of comparison use more and most.
Some adv. have irregular forms of comparison (wellbetter-best). Other have more than one form of
comparison which are differentiated in meaning (farfarther/further-farthest/furthest)
v. syntactic functions of adv. In simple sentences adv.
function as adv. mod. Semantically adv. mod. may be
subdivided into four types:
1. adjunct is governed by the verb, they are obligatory
in the sentence str. (take this book away). Without the
adjunct the will be incomplete, both syntactically and
semantically (put that book)
2. subjunct not governed by the verb predicate, they
are subordinate to one element in the S (they have just
arrived)(especially, precisely, completely)
3. disjunct syntactically detached from the , their
scope is the whole . By means of a disjunct the speaker
defines the conditions under which takes authority for
what is said or invites the hearer to interpret the info
expressed by the in the particular way. (personally
speaking milk is better than cofee)
4. conjunct detached from the in which it is included.
It joins the to the preceding . It does not display a
high degree of technical competence. However it is bald
in the use of rhyme. In complex adv. are used to
introduce clauses. (you can do whatever you please with
your time).

11. The expression of future time reference (Morph)

There are a number of ways to express F.T. reference in
English. The most important of them are: 1) will/shall +
inf. of the full verb 2) be going + inf. 3) Pr. Progressive
form 4) Pr. Simple form 5) will/shall + progressive inf.
of the full verb
These forms and forms all have their particular shades of
meaning and they are not generally interchangeable. The
most common of these constructions is 1). Will and
shall have the double function of modal auxiliaries and
auxiliaries of the future. Its difficult, however, to
separate those two functions. One reason for the
confusion of future and modal use of will and shall lies
in the very nature of futurity. We cant be as certain of
future happenings as we are of situations in the past and
present. For this reason even the most confident
prediction must indicate smth. Of the speakers attitude
and so be tinged with modality. Will/shall are no
exception. The typical future meaning of will/shall can
be labeled as prediction smth. involving the speakers
judgement. For this reason one ought not to describe it
as a future tense. The auxiliaries will/shall are
frequently contrasted in speech (esp. after pronoun
subjects) to express future meaning. One well die. The
auxiliary shall, however, can express neutral meaning
only with a first person pronoun as subject. We shall
overcome some day. Shall is occasionally found with
second and third person subjects in elevated style with
prophetic utterance. The earth shall be filled with Gods
glory.
The aux. will/shall can refer to either an
indefinite or definite time in the future. I shall keep my
word.
The future counterpart of the past simple
will/shall can be employed in reference to an imaginary
narrative future. These constructions are often used on
an imaginary time scale in referring to a later part of a
book or article. We shall examine Newtons law in
Will/shall followed by the perfect infinitive is the usual
means of expressing past in future. By next Wednesday,
they will have moved into the new house.
In many
contexts, however, the modal meanings of will/shall are
quite strong. If you wait there on Thursday evening I will
come. (voluntary future).
2) be going to + inf. one general meaning of that can
be attached to this construction is future fulfillment of
the present. In fact, it is useful to discriminate between
two meanings:
- future fulfillment of present intention:
They are going to get married in
- future fulfillment of present cause:
I think I am going to faint.
It is generally clear which of the two meanings applies
to
a given text.
Be going to is inappropriate in most future conditional
sentences. If you accept that job youll never regret it.
Be going to is suitable, however, if present
circumstances are mentioned in the subordinate clause.
We are going to find ourselves in difficulty if we carry on
like this. Be going to does not guarantee that the
anticipated situation will actually take place. This is
illustrated most clearly with past time reference. He was
going to sue me but I persuaded him it was pointless.
3) The Pr.Prog. refers to a future situation anticipated in
the present. A precise definition of the progressive can
be: future situation anticipated by virtue of a present
plan, programme or arrangement. She is getting married
this spring. A notion of fixed arrangement comes to be
associated with near rather than distant future. Verbs of
notion (arrive, land, stop) when used with the
progressive aspect have an element of anticipation. The
airplane is landing.
The meaning of plan or
arrangement with the present progressive restricts its use
in the main to verbs of action involving conscious
human agency. John is rising at 5 oclock tomorrow.
Another restriction on the future on the present
progressive is that it does not occur with the so-called
non-progressive verbs. We could very well ask who is
going to be captain of the team next Saturday.
4) Pr.S. the key to the future meaning of the simple
present is that it represents future as fact: it attributes to
the future the same degree of certainty that we normally
accord to present or past situations. Statements about the
calendar are the most appropriate illustrations. The term
ends on January the 15th.

14. Mood (Morph)

I. definition M. is the gram. category of the verb which
expresses modality (the relation between reality and the
situation reported, represented from the point of view of
the speaker). Mood together with tense, person and
number constitute the basis of predication. Only finite
verb forms express mood. In modern Engl. we
distinguish three mood forms: indicative, imperative and
subjunctive.
II. Indicative M. the forms of the indicative M.
represent the situation reported as part of the reality. The
Ind.M. forms of the verb can be marked to express the
categories of tense, aspect, voice, person and number.
They went home early in the morning.
The Ind.M.
forms can be used in cond. sentences to denote a
condition the realisation of which is considered possible.
If it rains Ill stay at home.
III. Imperative M. represents the situation reported as a
command (Go out.) or a request (Stop talking, please).
In mod. Engl. the Imp.M. has only one form which
coincides with the base of the verbal lexeme. This form
is used in the second person. Be quiet and hear what I
tell you. In the negative the auxiliary do is always used.
Dont be angry with me. A more emphatic use will either
require the aux. do or an overly expressed subject. Do
wait a minute.
The aux. do implies insistence or
persuasion. You mind your own business. Irritation
expressed Everybody behave yourselves.
Its impossible to introduce please in sentences with doemphasisers or in sentences with overtly expressed
subject. There are cases in which the subject is
introduced to denote the semantic agent and make the
expression unambiguous. Ill drive and you sleep
awhile. Passive structures, though rare, are possible
especially in British usage. Be seated. In short answers
the verb do/dont is used as a pro-predicate. Shall I
open the window? Please do./No, dont. since the
Imp.M. form is always used in the second person, the
speaker employs other means to denote a command to
the third person. Let the child go home at once. With 1st person plural to let is used to express an exhortation to
an adjoint action. Lets go and have some coffee.
In informal style: Dont let anyone fool himself that he
can get away with it.
IV. The Subjunctive M. its forms represent the
situation reported as smth. Imaginary or desired (a nonfact). The S.M. in old English had a special set of
inflections diff. from those of the Ind.M. In mod.
English only few forms have survived. For practical
reasons we can divide these forms in two: past and
present subjunctive.
1. Past Subjunctive here only the verb be has retained
its P.S. form: were is used for all the persons singular
and plural. The P.S. is widely used in mod. English both
in literature and colloquial language. The term past is
nearly traditional because what we call P.S. form does
not necessarily represent a past situation. In adverbial
clauses of condition it denotes an unreal condition
referring to the present or future. I want to go
everywhere and wish I were a gipsy. In object clauses
the P.S. form denotes an action or state simultaneous
with the action expressed in the main clause. I wish he
were less remote. The S.M. forms do not undergo back
shifting in subordinate clauses.
2. Present Subjunctive its forms coincide with the base
of the verbal lexeme. The Pr.S. denotes a situation
referring to the present or future. This form is seldom
used in Br. English it may be found in poetry and
elevated prose, where these forms are used with certain
stylistic aim. Though all the world be false still will I be
true. The Pr.S. form is used also in the language of
official documents. If anyone be found guilty, he will the
right to appeal. In Am. English the Pr.S. is widely used
in colloquial style as well. Y called the hospital and
insisted that one of the doctors come to the phone.
The Pr.S. occurs also in simple sentences and in set
phrases functioning as linguistic formulae. May success
attend you.
Structures with modal auxiliary verbs may function as
substitutes of the S.M. forms. Whenever you may come,
you are welcome.

1. The sign character of language (Semant)

Semiotics comes from the Greek SEMA (MARK
SIGN), which is also the root of the term
SEMANTICS(the study of meaning). Semiotics
studies the innate capacity of human beings to produce
and understand signs of all kinds. The sign action is
called semiosis. Semantics and Pragmatics are two
divisions of (branches) of Semiotics: Semantics studies
the meaning of words (the sign, the concept, and the
world); Pragmatics studies the relation between the sign,
the object, and the subject. Sign is any mark, bodily
movement, symbol, token etc. used to indicate and to
convey thoughts, inf. Commands, etc; it is the basis of
human thought and communication. According to Pierce
the sign is s.th. that stands to s.b. for s.th. in some
respect or capacity. The sign always carries inf. Signs in
nature and signs in society are prior to linguistic signs.
Signs in nature are a part of the system they represent.
Signs in society are the so called paralinguistic signs
which are beyond language, foe example gestures,
postures of the body etc. linguistic signs are arbitrary,
there is no inherent relation between the object and the
sign. The 1st linguist who spoke about the sign character
of language is Saussure. According to him the sign
consists of a signifier and a signified which resemble the
two sides of a coin, and cannot be separated. The
signifier is the concept and the signified is the string of
sounds:
signified
/
___Concept_
|
Sound-image

\ Signifier
According to Pierce the sign resembles a triangle:
Interpretant (concept)
/
\ indirect relation b/n the
/
\ object and the sign (through
representamen /_ _ _ _ _ object | the mind)
The representamen is the relation between the object and
the interpretant, which is not direct. The interpretant is
the mental correlate of the sign. It is the head and itself
has a sign-like quality. The interpretant enables the sign
user to denote with it the object for which the sign
stands. For example, the word a chair is the
interpretant of a picture of a chair(it is equivalent to the
sign). The interpretant can also be an association: for
example, in translation when we hear dog we
associate it with the Bulgarian . According to
frege:

He views the object as a token (which is the particular

occurrence of a sign a real, a particular object) and as a
type(which is the class of all occurrences of the sign): a
token the chair; class chair.
Denotation is the relation of reference and designation is
the relation of meaning. In medieval Latin the
corresponding pair of terms for the Stoic
semainon (signifier) signans
semainomenon (signified) signatum
Sauussure called them significant and signifi. In
German they were called das Significat (signifier) and
der Significant(signified). * Sintagmatics of the sign are
the rules that govern the relationship between the
speaker and the situation. Pragmatics of the sign are the
rules that governs the relationship between the speaker,
the addressee and the state of affairs.
*Properties of the linguistic sign. Signs are arbitrary. 1)
the relation between the sign and the object is arbitrary.
2) signs have material nature. 3) there is a general
agreement within a society how to call an object. 4)
within a given language signs are motivated. 5) objects
are named after their most conspicuous feature. Saussure
introduced the term veleur, which means the
significance that the word has within the system. N.B. 1)
the relation sign - other signs is non-arbitrary. 2) the
relation sign object is arbitrary. 3) the producer of
signs is the speaker. 4) the interpreter of signs is the
listener. The mechanism of communication which lies in
the basis of a sign involves encoding, decoding, transfer
and accumulating of info. *Signs that do not function in
relation to the world as unicorn, mermaid do not
have referents in the world. *Prepositions and
conjunctions denote relation between other signs and do
not have referents in the world. They function only
syntagmatically and pragmatically. Charles Morris
speaks of three types of signs symbols, indexes and
icons. However there are three more types signals,
symptoms and names. Signal is a sign which
mechanically or conventionally triggers some reaction
on the part of a receiver. An example of a signal is the
exclamation: Go!, or the discharge of a pistol to start a
foot race. Symptom a compulsive, automatic, nonarbitrary sign such as the signifier coupled or the
signified in the manner of a natural link. The denotata of
symptoms are generally different for the addresser ( ex.
The patient with its subjective symptoms) and for the
addressee (ex. The physician with its objective
symptoms). Like all signs symptoms may figure in both
paradigmatic systems and syntagmatic chains. Icon
there is a topological similarity between a signifier and
its denotata. Pierce distinguishes three subclasses of

icons: images, diagrams and metaphors. Ex. La

Giokonda, A snapshot of reproduction of the famous
painting is the iconic sign for the copy, which thus
becomes the denotatum, but which itself is an iconic sign
for the original portrait, its denotatum; but this painting,
too, is an iconic sign for Leonardos model, the lady
known as Mona Lisa, its denotatum. Index a sign
whose signifier is contiguous with its signified, or is a
sample of it. ex. Pierce says that the footprint R.Crusoe
found in the sand was an index to him of some creature.
Sign indexes give the appropriate temporal and spatial
characterization (coordinates) of the object. Symbol a
sign without either similarity or contiguity, but only with
a conventional link between its signifier and its denotata,
and with an intentional class for its designatum. Symbol
sub-species are: alegory, badge, brand, device, emblem,
insignia, mark, and stigma. Ex. One can say that the
hammer and sickle were either the symbol or he emblem
of the communist party; also the Eiffel Tower of Paris.
But we cannot say that H 2O is a chemical emblem.
Emblems are non-verbal acts which have a direct verbal
translation, or dictionary definition, usually consisting of
a word or two, or perhaps a phrase. Name a sign which
has an extensional class for its designatum. According to
Kecskemeti considered in terms of its intention a
name is simply a blank unless and until a description
referring to the same object is supplied. According to
Morris, proper names belong to a mode of signifying
called namors. Human individuals are identified by
verbally attestible namor, a personal name

2. Word meaning and meaning (Semant)

Word meaning there are several approaches to the to
the explanation of word meaning: 1) extensionalism: the
relationship between word and O is called the
relationship of reference, and there is a tradition to
equate the problem of meaning with the problem of
reference. According to this view the meaning of a word
can be explained in terms of the relation between that
word and O or Os to which it refers. Common nouns
refer to sets of individuals, verbs refer to actions, adjs
refer to properties of individuals, and adverbs refer to
properties of actions. Any theory of meaning which
attempts to explain all aspects of word meaning in terms
of reference is mistaken. Though in proper names there
is a one to one correspondence between word and O it is
not obvious that proper names have any meaning at all.
2) the image theory of meaning it is possible to explain
the meaning of a word in terms of the image in the
speakers or hearers mind. These images cannot be
visual. a) one may have more than one image for a
single expression. b) two expressions may have the same
image. ex. A tired child curled up and nearly
asleep/stamping its foot and screaming.
* Any word which relates to more than one image is
predicted to be ambiguous.
* There are many words with which it is impossible to
associate any image at all: and, or, because.
3) According to Saussure language is a system of
interdependent terms in which the value of each term
results from the simultaneous presence of others.
Angry \ Each of the members of these set of words
Happy \ stands in a certain relation one to another and
Calm
\ this relation is a determinant of the interprePleased / tation of the word. - The interpretation of
Annoyed / and, or, because is not clear whether
Upset / it can be analyzed in terms of concepts.
4) Componential analysis: demonstrates the relations of
meanings between words. These meanings are not
analyzed as unitary concepts but as complexes made up
of components of meaning which are themselves
semantic primitives. Ex. spinster may be analyzed as
a complex of features (markers; components). [female],
[never married], [adult], [human]. The components
together, in different combinations, constitute word
meanings. The central problem is to explain the relation
between the words and the independent components. 5)
Katz semantic marker is a theoretical construct which
is intended to represent a concept that is part of the sense
of morphemes and other constituents of natural
language. By a concept in this connection we do not
mean images or mental ideas or particular thoughts.
Concepts are abstract entities; they dont belong to the
conscious experience of anyone though they may be
thought about, as in our thinking about the concept of a
circle. They are not individuated by persons.
meaning. there are three main ways in which
linguists and philosophers have attempted to explain
meaning in natural language: 1) by defining the nature of
word meaning word meaning is taken as basic in terms
of which meaning and communication are explained.
2) by defining the nature of meaning - meaning is
taken as basic, word meaning is explained through
meaning and the process of communication. 3) by
explaining the process of communication both
meaning and word meaning are explained in terms of the
ways in which s and words are used in the act of
communication. We use words to refer to Os and
actions; s are used to describe events, beliefs, options.
Language is the vehicle by means of which we affect
communication: - In terms or rationalism the meaning of
language is more or less what the world is like;
rationalism explains language through its relation to the
world. In terms of cognitivism the meaning of
language is a reflection of how we mentally organize the
world.
* Tarskys definition of meaning S is true if and only
P where S is the name of the and P is the conditions
which guarantee the truth of that .
* extension the circumstances that make the true - P
* intention the proposition that the expresses - S
The suggestion is that to know the meaning of a is to
know under what conditions that would be true. Ex.
Snow is white is true if and only snow is white.
* To give the meaning of a is to state (all and only) the
conditions necessary for its truth. Ex. S means that PS
is true if and only if P. The formula states that some
condition P will constitute the meaning of S if and only
if P is true when S is true. Ex. John killed Bill is true
if and only if John caused Bill to die.
* s can be used to make statements. A truth
conditional semantics accounts only for one types of s
declarative indicative s.
* According to Quine the unit of communication is the
and not the word. The interpretation of the s of a
language must be explained compositionally in terms of
the combination of the words making up those s.
** A relation between s such that the truth of the
second necessarily follows from the truth of the first is
called ENTAILMENT.
** A relation between s such that the truth/falsity of the
second necessarily follows from the truth/falsity of the
first is called PRESUPPOSITION.

3. Polysemy and homonymy (Semant)

*One and the same word may have a set of different
meanings. This is called polysemy (P) and the word is
called
polysemic:
ex.
bank

financial
institution/bank of a river. With P the various
connotations stick to the basic one and form a cluster.
The various connotations of a polisemantic word have
different ability to combine with other words from
semantical point of view. Grammatically the various
meanings do not change the various characteristics of
the word. Classification of the different types of P: 1)
shifts in application: ex. green 1. in colour, 2. unripe,
3. young and tender. 2) specialization: the word acquires
a new meaning when used as a technical term: ex. parts
of the body: head, hand, finger, foot used for various
mechanical parts. 3) figurative expressions: a word used
figuratively acquires another shade of meaning: ex.
mountains of baggage. to put two and two together. 4)
borrowings a word of foreign origin may have a
different meaning from what it had in the language from
which it was borrowed, and the old meaning may still
influence the new one: ex. actual 1. existing in fact or
act. 2. existing or acting at the time. Under French
influence it acquired the meaning concerned with
present 5) mechanisms of shifting of the meaning: a)
radiation the basic meaning is at the centre and all
other connotations are directly connected with it:

b) concatenation: it is the other variant of shifting. It

means union by linking together, union in a series or
chain.

Homonyms are words different in meaning but identical

in form. Homonymy (H) is the result of coincidence,
while P is inherent in language. There are several types
of H: 1) complete H: there is a perfect coinciding in
form, both phonetical and grammatical. It is possible
only with words from the same grammatical category:
ex. calf as an animal/calf as part of a leg. genitive
form calfs/ pl. calves. 2) partial H: a) words coinciding
in phonetical and grammatical features: ex. 1. to lie to
be in a prostrate position. 2. to lie not to tell the truth.
present simple lie lie, past simple - lay lied, past
participle lain lied. b) only phonetical form is
identical: ex arm arms (body parts), arms (weapons).
c) words belonging to different grammatical categories
may become partial homonyms: ex. cheap (adj), cheap
(adv); since (adj), since (conj); by (prep) by (adv);
Formal classification of homonyms: a) homophones
coincide in sound but differ in spelling and meaning: ex
night knight, site sight, right write, road rode. b)
homographs coincide in spelling but differ in sound
and meaning: ex lead [led] metal; lead [li:d] to
conduct. c) perfect homonyms identical in spelling and
sound but different in meaning: ex. grave 1. a burial
place, 2. important. There are several types of
distinguishing between P and H: 1) when the identical
forms have different origins they are treated as
homonyms. 2) when they have one origin, even if the
meanings are different, they are treated as polysemic. 3)
we can use the tests of ambiguity ex. I went to the
bank; coordination test: John and Bill went to the bank it can be taken to mean that one went to the financial
institution and the other to the river. Do so test: John
went to the bank and so did Bill. We should not say it
with the two meanings. However, there are no objective
and reliable criteria to differentiate between the two.
Ambiguity may result from grammatical or lexical
differences: ex. they hit the ball hit (present or
past?), Flying plane can be dangerous. the act of
flying planes or planes that are flying. A polysemic word
has variety of synonyms each corresponding to one of its
meaning, where the antonyms are the same we have P,
difference of antonyms implies H. ex.
/ hair - dark
/ skin - dark
Fair/ weather - foul
\ tackle - foul
\ sky - cloudy
\ judgement unfair

4. Synonymy (Semant)
Synonyms are words with nearly identical meaning.
Synonymy can be described in two ways: 1) in terms of
necessary resemblances and permissible differences. 2)
contextually, by means of diagnostic frames how they
behave in a certain syntactic structure. Synonyms must
have a significant degree of semantic overlap and a low
degree of implicit contrastedness: ex. spaniel and
alsatian are not synonyms, because similarity is not
sufficient. Synonyms are lexical items whose senses are
identical in respect of central semantic traits but differ, if
at all, only in respect of minor or peripheral traits.
Synonyms dont constitute a homogeneous whole, some
pairs of synonyms are more synonymous than others
there is a scale of synonymy. Absolute synonymy is the
zero point of the scale of synonymy. Two words are
absolute synonyms if and only if all their contextual
relations are identical. Absolute synonyms are rare
because there is no justification for two words to exist in
the language with the same meaning. This may happen
as a result of borrowing. Extending some distance along
the scale we reach the cognitive synonymy: X is a
cognitive synonym of Y if X and Y are syntactically
identical and any grammatical declarative sentence S
containing X has equivalent truth conditions to another
S, which is identical to S except that X is replaced by Y.
ex. fiddle, violin. Cognitive synonyms must have certain
semantic properties in common. Ex. 1. Her father came
into the room. 2. Her daddy came into the room. With
these two sentences we have equivalent truth conditions
their meaning isnt changed. They have the same
denotational meaning; daddy, in addition, has expressive
meaning. We convey information in the propositional
mode. Ex. 1. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my rectum. 2.
Ouch! The content of the message conveyed by the two
s is the same, or at least very similar. However they
differ in respect of Semantic Mode. The meaning of 1 is
in the propositional mode, while the meaning of the 2 is
in the expressive mode. Only declarative s express
proposition. Interrogative and negative s do not
express complete proposition but they have
proporsitional content. In the 2 it is up to the listener
to fill up the missing info. Cognitive synonyms must be
identical in respect of propositional traits, but they may
differ in respect of expressive traits. Proposition is an
abstract notion. The abstract meaning of a declarative
when it describes a state of affairs in the world. There
are several classes of words according to their
expressive meaning: 1. explitives they have only
expressive meaning, these are exclamations: Wow!,
Ouch!, Gosh!. They may have grammatical role
within the s. ex. Get that damn dog off my seat! They
may be words from taboo areas: Holy shit!, My ass!,
Piss off!. Also words like already, still, yet they
dont change the truth conditions of the . Ex. 1. He is
(still) here. 2. The second type express propositional and
expressive traits simultaneously: ex. Daddy, mummy, 3.
Capable of expressive meaning but only in certain
contexts: ex. Oh, look a baby! Isnt he adorable.
Words not capable of manifesting expressive meaning:
ex. Infant in no context does it express such a
meaning.
Plesionyms are distinguished from cognitive synonyms
by the fact that they change the truth conditions of the
sentence. One of the members of a plesinymous pair
denies the other. Ex. 1. It wasnt foggy, just misty. 2. He
was not murdered, he was legally executed. In the first
clause the member is asserted, in the second the member
is denied. According to Molchova there are four types of
synonyms: 1) absolute synonyms identical in meaning
without any difference whatever. They can be used one
for the other in any context without causing the slightest
change. 2) phraseological synonyms = plesionyms
words synonymous only in phrases. That is, a wods has
to have several connotations, which become clear from
the context, from the phrase, usually a more or less
conventional phrase. In all those phrases the word may
be replaced by a synonym. Ex. Field: area, a debate
covering a wide area; branch unsurpassed in his own
branch; useful in his own sphere. 3) stylistic synonyms
= cognitive synonyms. They are not connected with the
meaning of a separate word so much as with the
meaning and the general effect of the whole context.
Emotional colouring plays an important role in these: ex.
To be angry to see red; To put ones monkey up; To
make ones blood boil. These are synonyms to to cause
or raise anger. 4) relative synonyms are words standing
for the same notion but varying in the shade of meaning:
they may differ in degree, emotional colouring and range
of usage. Ex. Key, clue, hint. clue is less certain than a
key; and a hint is less certain than a clue.
Sources of synonymy are: a) references to the emotions:
Gay as a lark, Happy as a king, Jolly as a
sandboy, Merry as a gig = rejoicing. b) everyday
speech, jargon, slang: crony, chum, pal, buddy
= friend. c) affected speech: meticulous = exact
/detailed. d) archaisms and borrowings French
joyous; English merry. According to Arnold
Schwarzenegger: she regards synonyms as groups of
words: ex. sustain, suffer, undergo, experience they all
mean to live through something. to experience = to
know something from first hand, to undergo = to bear

something, to be subjected to something, to suffer = to

experience something that implies injury, to sustain =
formal use; to undergo something without giving way.
When a native and borrowed words are synonyms of
each other there is a tendency for the words of native
origin to be used colloquially and the words that are
borrowed to be used formally.
5. Antonymy (Semant)
Antonyms are two or rarely more words of the same
language belonging to the same part of speech, identical
in style and nearly identical in distribution, associated
and used together so that there denotative meanings
render contrary or contradictory notions. A-s share the
following characteristics: 1) they are fully gradable
(most are adjectives; a few are verbs) 2) the members of
an antonymous pair denote degrees of some variable
property such as length, speed, weight, accuracy etc. 3)
when the members are more strongly intensified they
move in opposite directions along the scale representing
degrees of the relevant variable property. Thus, very
short and very long, for instance, are more widely
separated on the scale of length than short and long.
|__________|___________|___________|
very short
short
long
very long
4) antonyms do not strictly bisect a domain: there is a
range of values of the variable property, lying between
those covered by the opposed terms, which cannot be
properly referred to by either term. Thus its long and
its short are contrary, not contradictory statements.
Furthermore, Its neither long nor short is not
paradoxical, since there is a region on the scale of length
which exactly fits this description.*The terms of an
antonymous pair are symmetrically disposed around a
neutral region of the scale, called pivotal region. ***
There are antonyms which bisect the scale: ex. dead
and alive. *Antonyms are always interpreted
comparatively: ex. its long means longer than x,
where x is some implicit reference point on the scale of
length. The most frequent reference point is some sort of
average value within a class: ex. a tall man entered the
room is likely to refer to someone taller than the
average adult male human. *Antonyms can be divided
into three sub-classes: on the basis of the relationship
between the semantic properties of those lexical units of
the adjective lexemes which appear in sentences of the
form Its X and the semantic properties of the
semantical units which appear in corresponding
comparative forms there are basically two possible
relationships: pseudo comparatives and true
comparatives. ex. This box is light, but its heavier
than that one. In this case heavier is treated as
pseudo-comparative because here it does not mean
heavier to a greater degree but of a greater weight. In
Its cold today, but its hotter than yesterday hotter
mean hot to a greater degree and is therefore described
as a true comparative. With pseudo and true
comparatives we have three possibilities: group1) a
pseudo-comparative corresponding to each member of a
pair of antonyms. ex. 1. Its short, but its longer than the
other one. 2. Its long, but its shorter than the other one.
group2) a pseudo-comparative corresponding to one
member of a pair, but the other member has a true
comparative. ex. 1. Johns a dull lad, but hes cleverer
than Bill.(pseudo-com.) 2. *Bills clever lad, but hes
duller than John.(true-com.) group3) both members of a
pair have true comparatives. ex. 1. *Its hot, but its
colder than yesterday. 2. *Its cold, but its hotter than
yesterday. The antonyms in group1 are termed polar
antonyms, those in group2 overlapping antonyms, and
those in group3 equipollent antonyms. these three groups
have other differences as well, in respect to certain other
properties. P.A. are typically evaluatively neutral, and
objectively descriptive. O.A. all have an evaluative
polarity as part of their meaning: one term is
commendatory (e.g. good, pretty, polite) and the other is
deprecatory (e.g. bad, plain, rude). All E.A. refer to
distinctly subjective sensations or emotions(e.g. hot,
cold, happy, sad, nasty, pleasant). The three groups differ
also in respect to the possibility of forming how
questions. With P.A. only one member of a pair yields a
normal H? and it is impartial: How long is it? but * How
short is it? With O.A. both terms of a pair yield normal
H?s but one term yields an impartial question ( how
good is it?) and the other a committed question (how
bad is it?). With E.A. both terms of a pair yield normal
H?s, and both questions are committed (how hot/cold is
it?)
Molchova classifies the English A-s into two main
groups: absolute and derivational antonyms. 1) Absolute
A-s. are words regularly contrasted as homogeneous
sentence members connected by copulative, disjunctive,
or adversative conjunctions, or identically used in
parallel constructions, in certain typical configurations.
a) antonyms proper-trier semantic polarity is relative, the
opposition is gradual. They always imply comparison:
love---------------------------------------------------hate
attachment
liking
indifference
antipathy
b) complementarity is a binary opposition: the denial of
one member of the opposition implies the assertion of
the other: not male means female c) conversives
-they denote one and the same referent as viewed from
different points of view-that of the subject and that of the
object. The substitution of a conversive does not change
the meaning of a sentence if it is combined with
appropriate morphological and syntactical changes and
appropriate prepositions are selected: ex. He gave her
flowers she received flowers from him. 2)
derivational antonyms the affixes in them serve to
deny the quality stated in the stem: ex. known

unknown; appear disappear; capable incapable;

useful useless. *Derivational antonyms are
contradictory (contradictory notions are mutually
exclusive and inconsistent, denying one another).
*Absolute A-s are contrary (contrary notions are
inconsistent but they are polar members of a gradual
oppositions, which may have intermediary elements.
6. Types of changes in the word meaning from a
synchronic and diachronic point of view. Linguistic
and extra-linguistic factors. (Semant)
History, social structure and human psychology, cause
changes in the meaning of the word. In some cases,
though quite rare, only one of these factors is the cause
for the change. Usually the change is cause by several
factors and thats why it is very difficult to determine the
main cause. 1) linguistic causes: they are of
phonological, grammatical and semantical character. a)
in Eng, different words were borrowed at different
periods when different phonetic rules operated and one
and the same form was moulded in a different way. The
result of the synchronical level was two different words
(doublet forms): ex. arc arch, to attack to attach.
Unstable spelling in middle Eng also led to the
development of different words: ex. flower flour.
Each form of those doublets was attached to one of the
meanings of the mother word so that meaning and form
blended. That made it easier to get away from the
mother word and start its own existence. b) grammatical
reasons the so called substantivization: ex.
substantivization of adjs: the rich, the poor, the
wounded. The article the signals only that
substantivization has become part of the semantics of
those items. c) the verb in Eng must always be
accompanied by its subject, because of the loss of
personal endings. If there is not a doer of the action it
is put to perform its function; it is not used with its
own meaning: its raining, it hurts. d) do is almost
void of meaning when used in literary works for the sake
of metre. Ex. I do love you, I never did swear so. In
case like: Dont come late do lost its original
meaning and acquired a purely grammatical function:
ex. I dont know. Do you know her? Yes, I do.
Do performs a grammatical function and is void of
lexical meaning. It replaces know her, it becomes very
abstract. You play chess, dont you?. do stands for
the whole meaning of the disjunctive question. e) Yes
and No can carry the meaning of a whole phrase: ex.
Do you like it? Yes/No. f) The conjunctions
(provided and providing) are separates words: - on
synchronical level they dont have anything in common
with the corresponding verbal forms except that they are
perfect homonyms with them; - diachronically they are
divided from the corresponding past and present
participles of the verb to provide. With the change of
their grammatical status there was a change in their
meaning. 2) historical causes: with the appearance
(development) of new notions there comes the need to
name them so a new word is coined or an old word,
native or borrowed, acquires a new meaning: ex. In
ancient time used to write with a feather, in Latin named
penna. Through French the word entered the Eng
language in the form of pen. Nowadays pens are made
of different materials so the referent of the word pen is
different from the referent of the old word. The only fact
that we use pen is that it is used for writing, the
common feature between the old and the new referent. 3)
social factor: this factor works in two ways:
specialization (creating terms) and slang and cant. a)
specialization a word acquires additional meanings
when used as a technical term: ex. words denoting parts
of the body are very frequently used as technical terms:
head, hand, finger, foot. b) slang is a source of
enriching standard language. c) cant is the speech of the
underworld, it has intentional character to make the
word as unintelligible as possible. There are no hard and
fast boundaries between slang and cant. 4) psychological
factor: the speaker gives an additional meaning or even
changes the meaning of a word by endowing it with an
emotional colouring, suiting the state of mind on the
mood he is in at the moment of speaking the context
or the intonation suggests the shifting of the meaning.
The psychological factor helps the meaning got be either
elevated or degraded. The causes of semantic changes
are linguistic and extra-linguistic. Linguistic changes
are: 1) differentiation between synonyms due to the
constant interdependence of vocabulary units in
language and speech. 2) fixed contents changes
resulting from ambiguity in certain contexts. 3) ellipsis.
Ex 1) Differentiation of synonyms is a gradual change
observed in the course of language history: ex. time
and tide they used to be synonyms; then tide
(periodically shifting waters) time (used in general
sense). Ex. 2) fixed context meat refers only to flesh
food; meat and drink (set expression big pleasure).
sweetmeats (compound). Ex. 3) ellipsis: a) the
qualifying words of a frequent phrase can be omitted:
sale cut-price sale. to propose to propose
marriage. b) the kernel word of the phrase may seem
redundant: minerals mineral waters.
METAPHOR AND METONYMY
I. Metaphor (M) is a figurative expression. The M is a
fanciful idea based on a common feature of two entities.
The common feature is never mentioned, the hearer must
come to it by himself. In almost all cases the common
feature is practically the only thing in common between
the two referents. The greater the difference between the
two referents the more difficult it is to find the common
feature. From a linguistic point of view M is a non-literal
use of language. All Ms can be transferred into similes.

M is the relation of similarity between two objects. The

M is an intentional transfer. The transfer is founded on
some similarity between the primary referent and the
actual referent. The actual referent is the one to which
the word is actually applied when transferred. It is worth
mentioning that it is mostly nouns that are subjected to
M, less so verbs and still less adjs. Classification: nouns:
1) the name of an object stands for another object, a)
names of plants especially flowers, are based on the
common appearance of the two referents: ex. snowdrop,
crowfoot, b) names of parts of an animal body are often
used with humorous intent for parts of the human body:
beak, bill, paw. c) names of objects are used for parts of
the human body. Also with a humorous or derisive
connotation: onion (head), trap (mouth). d) the name of a
concrete entity may stand for an abstract one: ex This
place is hell. f) the name of an abstract entity may stand
for another abstract one: ex. Knowledge is light. g) the
name of an abstract entity may stand for a concrete one:
ex. To be the pride of somebody, to be the glory of he
country. 2) the name of an object stands for a person: ex.
A lamp post. = a lean, tall person. A poker = a stiff
person. 3) names of animals stand for persons: a lion = a
brave and fearless person, a viper = wicked and
malicious person. 4) proper names of people used as
common names. A Don Quixote = a naive idealist. A don
Juan = lover. 5) names of nations as common nouns: A
Turk = ferocious, wild or unmanageable person. 6)
names of places used as common nouns: Mecca = any
place one aspires to visit.
Verbs: to hang around, to burst into a laughter, to break a
promise.
Synaesthetic M synaesthesia is an association that
connects elements from different sensory spheres, the
point of similarity being constituted by their effect on
the perceiving subject. It affects mainly adjs and only
occasionally nouns. It is a favourite figure especially
used in poetry: ex. Warm reception, burning question, a
thin excuse, running water, small talk. The more
extraordinary the M the stronger its effect on the hearer.
After frequent use the effect of any M fades away no
matter extraordinary. Little by little it loses its emotional
colouring and it ceases to be felt as a stylistic figure. If
the M-cal element is lost then the word is considered to
be a dead M. Otherwise it is a living M. ex of dead M:
daisy, horse-play, hooligan. The M-cal figure of speech,
regarded from the point of view of shift of meaning,
often leads to polysemy. This often happens with some
dead Ms. M-ic use gives rise to new formations. It is the
motif for forming by conversion such words as to fish
to seek by indirect means, to dog to follow closely,
pursue, track.
METONYMY (Mt) it is based on contiguity of two
entities. It excludes any similarities between the two
entities. The relation between the two entities is external
and not inherent Mt. Has no need of creative inspiration
which is the basis for the M. with the M. there is a gap
purposely left by the speaker which has to be filled in by
the hearer through long and often laborious mental
activity. With Mt the gap is of entirely different
character. It exists in reality. From the purely linguistic
point of view. With Mt we have one word beginning to
stand for another entity. 1) a classical type of Mt is the
synecdoche - there are two types: a) naming an entity
after the name of some of its parts: ex. blue stockings = a
woman having literary tastes, brass hat = high ranking
officers. b) the name of the whole stands for the part: ex.
church = congregation, school = the children. 2) Mt of
diverse character: a) the name of the animal for its fur:
fox, mink, chinchilla, b) the name of the material for the
object: ex glass = something made of glass, c) the name
of the container for the thing contained: ex. cup = a cup
of some contents, The kettle if boiling. d) the name of
the place for its inhabitants: Wall Street = USA financial
power, The White House = the president. e) the name of
the organ for the capability: to have a good ear for, to
have an eye for. f) the name of the thing contained for
the container: ex. sardine = the can in which it is
preserved, g) the name of the instrument for the person
who uses it: ex pen = a writer, gun = an artillery man, h)
the name of the author for his work: ex A Shakespeare, A
Byron. A sub-class of Mt we may have when the name
of the inventor stands for the invention: ex. Winchester =
a rifle. Another sub-class here is that of the name of a
person for an article somehow connected with the latter:
ex. cardigan, sandwich, boycott. i) the name of the place
where the article was first produced stands for the article
itself: ex. china = porcelain. j) the name of the symbol
for the symbolized, k) the brand for the article: ex lucky
strike, volga, l) the date of the event for the event: ex.
the 9-th of September the socialist revolution in Bg, m)
the hour for the train: ex Im going by the 6.30. Mt, like
M, is also a means of word formation: mint and money
are actually dead Mts. Both come from the Latin moneta
(which had both meanings). Mt is one of the
mechanisms which gives rise to polysemy: ex. board
1) a table used for meals = food served at the table, 2) a
table at which a council is held = the persons who meet
at a council table.
NARROWING AND WIDENING OF MEANING
I. Widening of meaning: when a semantic area of a word
becomes wider we may conclude that it has undergone
widening of meaning. By semantic area is to understood
the quantity of connotations reflecting extra-linguistic
items and situations. Widening of the sematic area may
be of two different types: polysemy is one of them, but
there is another kind of widening, which is connected
with the volume of the concept reflected in the meaning
of a word. With polysemy there is a basic meaning

reflecting an extra linguistic fact and all the other

meanings are connected with the basic one, whereas
with widening the basic meaning is changed in terms of
volume. With polysemy the different meanings co-exist,
while with widening the old range of meaning gives way
to the new one: ex. rival is connected with river
etymologically. In ancient Rome rivalis were
neighbours who made use of the water of the same river.
Rivalis had the meaning belonging to one river. The
word later became a law term and after that acquired the
meaning of one who is in pursuit of the same object as
another; one who strives to equal or outdo another in any
respect. Thus the word became more abstract beginning
to cover an area wider than two neighbours using one
river. *In figurative expressions there is also widening
of meaning: ex bad egg, bad hat, to cry for the moon.
*Idioms proper are also an example of the same
phenomenon: to save face, to care two straws.
*Widening of meaning may be carried to an extent
where the word becomes so abstract that it loses its
meaning. Then desemantization takes place. Words used
hyperbolically reach this final stage of widening of
meaning: ex. terrifically hungry, frightfully kind. *Words
without meaning used to fill the gaps in the flow of
speech are also regarded as a widening of meaning,
which has been carried to the point of complete
desemantization. *With widening of meaning there is
always a tendency for the basic meaning to shift from
the specific to the general, from the concrete to the
abstract.
NARROWING OF MEANING
With NofM a word stands for a given notion. When the
word is used in each specific case, its meaning will refer
to a specific object or phenomenon under specific
circumstances and in this way its meaning will be
narrowed to this. The narrowed meaning is fixed in the
semantics of the word: ex. when a Bg-an says Im
going to the seaside this summer this means to the
Black Sea coast. *When abstract nouns become concrete
their meaning is narrowed. Ex. He is his mothers hope.
*There are instances when the narrowed meaning has
ousted the other meanings entirely. Ex. vegetable
comes from the Latin vegetabilis full of life,
animating; now it is restricted to only certain edible
plants. *The name of the material of which an article is
made is used for the article itself: ex glass = a cup. *A
natural device in the NofM of the word is to accompany
it by a qualifier lexico-syntactical device: ex. black art
is equivalent to magic, necromancy. The meaning of art
is not only restricted by black but the combination with
the latter results as if in a new word; first night = the first
night of a performance. *The existence of synonyms
plays an important role in the narrowed meaning of
some words. There is no justification of two words in a
language to have exactly the same meaning it is
inevitable for one of them either to be ousted or
restricted of meaning. *There are also cases that show
that borrowings have restricted the meaning of native
words. Ex. the Old Eng feond meant enemy. With
the adoption of the word enemy from French, fiend
was restricted only to gods enemy the devil. There are
two characteristic features of NofM: 1) there is a basic
tendency for the abstract to become concrete, 2) there is
also a tendency for the generic to stand for the specific.
ELEVATION AND DEGRADATION OF MEANING
The speaker may give additional meaning or even
change the meaning of a word by endowing it with an
emotional colouring suiting the state of mind or the
mood he is in at the moment of speaking. In such cases it
is the context or the intonation that suggests the shifting
of the meaning. The psychological factor helps the
meaning to be either elevated or degraded. Judging by
the moral standards of a given society the speaker
expresses his own attitude using a given word by
charging it with a connotation of values which are not
proper to it. 1) elevation of meaning: when a word is
used to stand for higher values than it usually expresses,
if at all. The elevated meaning, although secondary,
may gradually gain the upper hand and at a given
historical period may become basic: ex. right the
antonym of left in time acquired the opposite of false;
nice of Latin origin it meant a person who did not
know, an ignorant person. Today there is a tendency for
this
word
to
be
desemantized:
a
nice
book/day/walk/girl/word. Queen in old Eng meant
woman. 2) degradation of meaning: with dofm a word is
used to express a base moral value not inherent in its
original meaning. *Names of animals have no emotional
colouring. When applied to human beings they acquire a
derogatory connotation: ex. she is a viper. But out of that
context the word viper remains non-emotional. She is a
pussy-cat (cunt). *The use of names of different nations
with degraded meaning: ex. Dutch comfort, Dutch
carriage, Dutch feast. *Proper names with abusive
connotation: ex. Jim Crow and abusive name for a
Negro in the USA. *Words expressing a positive value
from frequent usage may acquire just the reverse
meaning: ex. common person mean, base. *A word
with a positive meaning may be used to express just the
opposite for the sake of contrast: ex. that precious
husband of yours. *Sometimes derivatives acquire a
negative connotation from the point of view of value: ex.
he works hard he hardly works. Mood = disposition
moody = bad disposition.
OTHER TYPES OF SEMANTIC CHANGE
1) Hyperbola is an exaggerated statement not meant to
be understood literally but expressing an intensely
emotional attitude of the speaker to what he is speaking
about. Ex. its a nightmare, you are the world for me.

The poetic hyperbola creates image and in the linguistic

hyperbola the denotative meaning quickly fades out and
the corresponding exaggerated words serve only as
general signs of emotion without specifying the emotion
itself. 2) litotes (understatement) it expresses the
affirmative by the negation of its contrary: not bad
good. Some understatements do not contain negation:
rather decent. The litotes as a rule does not create
permanent change in the semantic structure of the word
concerned. 3) irony expresses ones meaning by words
of opposite meaning for the purpose of ridicule: a
nice/pretty mess. 4) taboo and euphemism: created by
social and psychological factors. Taboo are rough,
unpleasant expressions or words. Euphemism is the
substitution of words of mild or vague connotation for
rough and unpleasant expressions. *If a word is struck
by a taboo then it must be replaced by a harmless
alternative. The more backward the community the more
words are taboo. a) words of animals were taboo with
many people. That was the result of a superstitious belief
that if one pronounces the name of an animal it would
get angry and cause mischief. b) during the Puritanism in
Eng the words devil and god were absolutely taboo. c)
parts of the body were also tabooed: ex. hand it was
believed to be separate from the body and omnipotent. d)
moral principles are also factors for tabooing certain
words connected with sex and physiology. *Language
has two means of replacing tabooed words: 1)
modification changing one or several sounds in the
tabooed word: ex. god and lord and the various oaths
connected with them: for goodness sake, goodness
gracious; god gad, gog, gom, gosse, golly; lord
lam, lawks, losh. 2) substitution with a harmless word
or expression borrowed from another dialect or
language: ex. sweat perspiration, madman maniac.
*The figurative substitute of a tabooed word is called
euphemisms: it is a linguistic veil on everything sacred,
dangerous, unpleasant or indecent: ex devil Old
Harry, scratch, the old gentleman; hell the other
place, the hot place, very uncomfortable.

7. Word formation (Semant)

Word formation (WF) is a means of forming new words
by using the linguistic building material that is at hand in
a given language. In Eng we distinguish between several
ways of WF: derivation (affixation), composition,
contraction, blending and conversion. A close look at the
means of wf during the various periods of the history of
the Eng language will reveal that different means of wf
were preferred at different times. In Moder Eng popular
means of wf have been conversion and phraseology
while in Old and Middle Eng - affixation and
composition.
Affixation in Eng the affixes are of native as well as of
foreign origin. The affixes as such are part of the
backbone of the language. Those of foreign origin in
Eng were not borrowed as word formatives. It is the
words, of which the affixes are a part, that are borrowed.
When many foreign words with the same affix become
well established in the language, the affix begins to be
felt as a word formative: ex. the suffix for abstract nouns
cy (French cie, from Latin tia) word to be found in
may French and Latin words borrowed in Eng at one and
the same time: prophecy, primacy, policy etc. The Eng
language adopted this model of wf from the XVI
century onwards purely Eng forms started to appear:
secrecy, permanency, dependency etc. Borrowings with
the suffix ic (Latin icus, French ique), lunatic,
fantastic, pathetic. Purely Eng formations: atomic,
optimistic, antagonistic. No matter whether the roots are
foreign or native the new words formed by derivation
and using the borrowed suffixes are Egn formations,
which shows that the suffix is already felt as a building
material of the Eng language. The great variety of
abstract notions which could not be satisfied by the
suffixes existing in the language: -dom, -hood, -ness,
conditioned the easy adopting of the suffixes: -ism (the
notion of school, a system of views), -cy (the notion of
quality connected with the person or object expressed in
the noun root), -ation (the notion of process). The
function of prefixes in Eng is purely semantical. They
are used to give a certain nuance to the meaning of the
word. So that the same prefix may be used as a
formative of different parts of speech: mishap a noun;
misunderstand verb. Suffixes perform a grammatical
function besides the semantical one they differ from
the different parts of speech. During the Old Eng period
the prefixes be-, bi-, were very productive. Today they
are completely obsolete except for the new words in
which they exist as archaisms. In many such words they
have lost their status as morphemes: because, to become,
before, to begin, behind etc. In a few other words they
are still felt as prefixes: to becloud, bedarken, bedazzle,
to be fit etc. The prefix with is no longer productive
but is still felt as a prefix in words like: withdraw, to
withstand, to withhold etc. Some Old Eng prefixes still
productive in Modern Eng are: fore-, out-, over-, un-,
up-, under-, mis-. Fore- in Old and Middle Eng it was a
prefix to verbs adding the connotation of before:
foresee, foretell, foreshadow, foretaste. Later this prefix
was ousted by the Latin pre meaning before, in
front, in advance: precede, predict. Out- its always
been a productive prefix: outline, outgrow, outbreak,
outburst, outcome. Over- overdo, overburden, overcome,
overall, overestimate. Un- 1) primitive Germanic,
Indoeuropean (= not) 2) originally identical with and
expressing reversal or deprivation. One of the most
productive prefixes: unattached, unaware, unforgiven,
unable. Under- understand, underground, undertone,
undergo. Up- upright, uprise, upbringing. Mis- with the
meaning of amiss wrongly: misfortune, misgive,
mislead. In modern Eng there is no prefix with
grammatical function. Suffixes, however, have a double
role to perform both adding something to the meaning
of the word and bearing a grammatical function. Thats
why different grammatical categories have different
suffixes. However there are suffixes performing only
grammatical functions. ex.. ed- p.t. and p.p. of weak
verbs. en-p.p. of strong verbs and ing-present
participle. Verb suffixes: -l: nestle, paddle, crumble,
stumble etc. er: pitter, patter, twitter, chatter etc. noun
suffixes: -er(profession, location): worker, singer,
dancer, foreigner, villager etc. ster(degrading
nuance): gamester, gangster, spinster etc. ness:
goodness, bitterness, sweetness etc. dom, - ship, -hood,
-th: strength etc. adjectival suffixes: -y, ful, less, -ish,
adverbial suffixes: -ly-manly, masterly etc. -ward(s).
Thoroughly naturalized affixes, so productive that they
have replaced affixes with native origin: -dis, -en, -re,
-able, -ation, -ism.
Composition. C. is a means of forming new words
which causes two or more roots to be merged into one,
whose meaning might be the sum total or it might be
idiomatic. The components of a compound word cant
have a complete grammatical form of their own, i.e. they
cant be words in themselves. As far as the meaning is
concerned it differs from case to case- from the most
non-idiomatic(light-blue,
waterfall)
to
the
idiomatic(butterfly, rainbow). Types of compounds acc.
to their gram-al structure: 1. With a specific morpheme
as a link. a) Two roots linked by o- gasometre,
speedometre. b) two roots linked by s- statesman,
tradesman, foolscap etc. Compounds without any

morpheme as a link. a) compound adjectives formed of a

noun root + adj. root: ice-cold, milk-white, home-sick.
b) numeral root + noun root: five-year, eight-hour, fiveminutes. c) two adj-al roots: dark-brown, pinkish-red,
light-blue. d) noun, adj or adv-al root + the suffixes ed,
-en: gray-haired, heart-broken. e) compound verbs
formed of a noun root + verb root: backbite, handpeck,
backwasg. f) compound nouns: adj-al root + a noun root:
blackberry, blacksmith, goldsmith. g) compound nouns:
noun root + noun root: backbone, bagpipe, rainbow.
3)compound words formed by inner syntax, the
structure of the words reminds the structure of a
sentence or a phrase this type is very frequently met:
lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-not 4) compound words
which are easily dissolved and become phrases again:
stone wall, gold watch, speech sound.
The components of a compound words are root
morphemes. Their grammatical nature, if any, is
irrelevant and has no effect on the grammatical nature of
the compound as a whole. The last root in the compound
bears the morphological markers of the whole word. The
relations in a compound are not of grammatical
character. They are of a semantic character. Each type of
compound shares one and the same deep structure with
other linguistic units which are phrases or even s.
Every compound has at least one synonym: tradesman
a man who trades, ice-cold cold as ice, fire-proof
proof against fire.
Contraction it is shortening of a word by omitting
some of its elements. The shortened form may either
preserve the old meaning or acquire a new one. There
are three types of contraction: 1) Aphaeresis: when the
first sound or syllable is dropped. a) ex. French:
avanguard / espace / aventurer / espier Eng: vanguard /
space / venture / spy. b) in colloquial speech words are
often clipped for the sake of brevity: ex. periwig wig,
caravan van, telephone phone. c) in rapid speech
there is always possibility for the initial syllable to be
dropped, especially if it is not stressed umbrella
brolly, stomach tummy. d) proper names are usually
shortened Theodora Dora, Elisabeth Beth. 2)
Syncope: when a sound or a syllable is dropped out in
the middle of a word: a) French borrowings have
undergone syncopation capitain captain, cheminee
chimney, b) in colloquial speech some abbreviations
are made for the sake of speed shant, cant, wont,
shouldnt. c) proper names are often syncopated
Benedict Bennet 3) Apocepe when a final sound or
syllable is dropped out. a) in different kinds of slang and
jargon there are clipped forms, especially students
jargon Professor prof, laboratory lab, gymnastics
gym, mathematics maths, b) proper names often
undergo apocope Alexander Alex, Edward Ed,
Ronald Ron, Victor Vic. *In written Eng there are
words that have an abbreviated spelling but take full
pronunciation. They can be considered orthographical
clippings: Doctor Dr., for example e.g., note well
N.B.
N.B. Only nouns are subjected to contraction. *in many
cases the contracted forms have a special stylistic
colouring: contracted personal names connotation of
endearment, contractions in jargon connotation of
intimacy.
Blending is closely related to contraction. With blending
two words are blended into one and in the process
sounds from each word are dropped out. a) in modern
Eng there are words that are the result of blending but
are not felt as such: gossip = god + sib (Old Eng =
kinship), goodbye = god be with you. b) a favourite way
of forming new words, especially in American Eng, is
blending pairs of synonyms: flurry (flaw + hurry), blunt
(blind + stunned), smog (smoke + fog), flush (flash +
blush) slide (slip + glide), c) acrostic words are the result
of the blending of the initial letters or initials syllables of
a compound name. This type of blending is typical for
neologisms reflecting notions in socialists society:
kolkhoz (kolektivnoe khozjaistvo). During the war many
acrostic words cropped up for the names of institutions
of military bodies: SCAP (Supreme Command of Allied
Powers), RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force). Names of
organizations BBC the British Broadcasting
Corporation, MP Member of Parliament. *In
contemporary Eng there is a tendency to use the initial
letters of a personal name for the name itself:
W.O.Grant.
Conversion it is becoming one of the most productive
means of wf in contemporary Eng. It applies especially
to the category of the verb and noun, less so to adjs and
far lesser to other parts of speech. Phrases which have
acquired the status of a word (functioning like a word)
can also take part in conversion. Even set phrases can be
converted: stove-polish, cold-shower. Conversion is wf
in which the paradigm is the word formative element.
The two words related by this type of wf differ in terms
of paradigm on the morphological level. Conversion
excludes all kinds of affixes playing the role of wf with
the exception of the paradigmatic marker. Another
typical feature of conversion is that words belonging to
one and the same class, cannot be coined by this means
of wf. So it is not possible for a verb to form another
verb, or a noun another noun. The basic forms of two
words related by conversion are homonyms. Ex. To run
n. run (conversion). 1) the basic forms of both verb
and noun are homonyms. 2) they differ in their
paradigms and distributional nature on syntactical level.
3) there is a relation between the lexical meaning of the
two words. During the Middle Eng period conversion
was very productive. Many pairs of words were created

and established in the language: ex. stream (v) stream

(n), rumour (n) - rumour (v), yellow (adj) yellow (v).
*Verbs like to suffer, to live, to eat, to hear, to come, to
see etc cannot form nouns by conversion due perhaps to
their semantic structure they express actions of long
duration or mental and physical perception. They are
durative verbs. Verbs like to ache, to drink, to attack, to
go, to look etc form the respective nouns because they
express either an action of starting or one that can be
divided into separate moments. Words with lexical
grammatical suffixes that clearly show their grammatical
category can hardly be converted: nouns in tion, ex.
creation, liquidation. Types of pairs related by
conversion: 1) genetic pairs (from Old End): anger
(n) / mind (n) / name (n) / love (n) - anger (v) / mind
(v) / name (v) / love (v). 2) borrowings (mainly from
French): accord (n) / concern (n) / distress (n) - accord
(v) / concern (v) / distress (v). 3) genuine conversion: a)
simple stems: book (n,v), cook (n,v), try (n,v),
nail (n,v). b) derivative stems: condition (n,v),
requisition (n,v). c) compound stems: blackmail,
windowshop. d) phrases: drawback (phr. n.),
handcuff (phr. v.). e) back formation: hitch-hike
(v,n). f) blendings: paratroop (v,n), onomatopoeia:
blah-blah (n,v), pooh-pooh (n,v).
*There are two main types of nouns coined by
conversion: 1) nouns which name a single action of
whole process: ex. go, say, sneeze, cough etc.
2) nouns which denominate the action in its integrity:
start, stand, roll, leap.
*Groups of verbs resulting from conversion: a) a process
whose connection with the nouns is as if the noun were
the instrument of the action: to drum, to nose, to pipe. b)
a process expressing the business of a person
denominated by the noun to cook, to boss, to nurse. c)
a process expressing an action like the noun: to shower,
to thunder, to nail. d) a process expressing certain
specific connection with the noun: to milk (the billy
goat), to bottle. e) a process connected with the noun in
meaning but acquiring different connotations depending
on the extra-linguistic circumstances: to water.

.
8. Loan words in modern English (Semant)
(Etymological sources)
Words of Indo-European and Germanic origin
A loan word is a word taken over from another language
and modified in phonetic shape, spelling, paradigm or
meaning according to the standards of the Eng language.
In order to trace the origin of a word we have to
undertake an etymological investigation. This is quite a
difficult task because units of speech very remote from
each other in sound as well as in lexical meaning may be
etymologically identical. If we know when a word first
appeared in a language well be sure of the phonetical
developments of the period and by the form of the word
well judge whether it had been influenced by these
developments or not. The consonant shift with the
Germanic languages is quite reliable: ex. by it we may
judge that full is a very old word and existed in Eng
before the consonant shift since it was affected by it.
Indo-European p turned into f in Germanic. (painos)
(full). A)*Since Eng belongs to the Germanic branch
of the Indo-European group of languages it is obvious
that the oldest words in Eng are of Indo-European origin.
It may be said that they constitute the very heart of the
language. We differentiate several semantic groups: a)
words expressing family relations brother, mother,
father, motherfucker, fatherfucker. b) names of parts of
the human body foot, knee, eye, ear, nose, dick,
vagina, cunt. c) names of elements and celestial bodies
water, wind, moon, sun, star, d) names of tree, birds,
animas birch, tree, cow, wolf, goose, e) words
expressing basic actions to come, to know, to lie, to sit,
to ejaculate, to suck (dicks preferably, in rare cases balls). f) words expressing qualities red, white, quick,
g) numerals one, two, three, hundred, B) * Words of
Germanic origin: 1) nouns: ankle, bone, cloth, ground,
ice, iron, life, sea, ship, shoe, 2) adjs: dead, dear, green,
gray, sick, sorry, 3) verbs: to burn, to draw, to drink, to
find, to go, to forgive, to tell, to sing, to fuck, to lick, to
have (sex all the time and not only) 4) pronouns: all (the
bitches), each, he, self, such, 5) advs: again (OHHH
darling, cum again, pretty, pretty please!!!), forward,
near, 6) prepositions: after (sex), at, by, over (her), under
(him), up, 7) adverbs: here, there (here, there suck it
everywhere, !).
Words from French and other languages
I. After the Norman Conquest in1066 there was an influx
() of French words in the Eng language. 1)
nouns: advice, age, autumn, beauty, car, cattle, change,
choice, colour, courage, creature, enemy, fruit, family,
flower, honour, pleasure (YEAHH), question. 2) adjs:
brave, common, close, foreign, general, important, large,
poor, opposite, 3) verbs: agree, appear, catch (her in the
rye, and then you fuck her.), cover, decide, dress
(undress her), enter, hurt, repeat, say, try, wait, refuse.
* There are a few words in the basic words stock of
contemporary Eng of various other sources. They have
entered the basic words stock because they are names of
notions which in the course of time have become basic.
Some belong to languages with which Eng does not have
much in common: II. Latin borrowings: 1) nouns:
cheese, cook, cup, dish, kitchen, mill, pepper, plant, port,
wall, wine 2) adjs: correct, equal, perfect, quiet, 3) verbs:
to add, to spend (the night with her), to turn, III.
Scandinavian borrowings: 1) nouns: bag, egg, fellow,
harbour, law, leg, skirt (lift it up yeah), sky, wing, 2)
verbs: to call, to crawl (for my flesh to crawl along and
for the gander to bark at me), to give, to take, to want, to
wank, 3) adjs: ill, low, wrong, ugly, odd, 4) prepositions:
till, IV. Others: church (Greek), silk, tea (Chinese),
potato, tomato, tobacco (Spanish).

8. Loan words in modern English (Semant)

A loan word is a word taken over from another language
and modified in phonetic shape, spelling, paradigm or
meaning according to the standards of the Eng language.
There are also translation loans (word and expressions
formed from the material already existing in the British
language but according to patterns taken from another
language, by way of literal morpheme-to-morpheme
translation) and semantic loans (word which develop a
new meaning due to the influence of a related word in
another language) ex pioneer. *The Eng language
system absorbed and remodeled the vast majority of loan
words according to its own standards it is sometimes
difficult to tell whether a word is borrowed or native.
*Many loan words, inspite of the changes they have
undergone, retain some peculiarities in pronunciation,
spelling or morphology: 1) the initial sounds [v], [],
[] are a sign that the word is not native: vacuum, jewel,
genre. 2) combinations as ph, kh, eau in the root indicate
the foreign origin of the word: philology, beau. 3) x is
pronounced [ks] and [gz] in native words and words of
Latin origin, and [z] in words coming from Greek: six,
exist, xylophone. 4) the combination ch is pronounced
[] in native words and early borrowings: child, chair;
[] in late French borrowings: machine, parachute and
[k] in words of Greek origin: epoch, chemist. 5) prefixes
which mark certain words as foreign learned: ab-, ad-,
con-, dis-, ex-, per-, pro-, re-. *The term assimilation of
loan words denotes a partial or total confirmation to the
phonetical, graphical, and morphological standards of
the receiving language and its semantic system. Oral
borrowings due to personal contracts are assimilated
more completely and more rapidly than literary
borrowings. *A classification of loan words according to
the degree of assimilation: 1) completely assimilated
loan words: they follow all morphological, phonetical
and orthographical standards. They may occur as
dominant words in synonimic groups. They take an
active part in word formation: ex. the first layer of Latin
borrowings: cheese, wall etc. Scandinavian loans:
husband, fellow, gate. French loans: table, chair, face,
finish. *A loan word never brings into the receiving
language the whole of its semantic structure if it is
polisemantic in the original language. *The borrowing
of a new word leads as a rule to semantic changes in
words already existing in the language. 2) partly
assimilated loan words: a) loan words not assimilated
semantically because they denote objects and notions
peculiar to the country from which they come: sombrero,
toreador, b) loan words not assimilated grammatically:
ex. nouns borrowed from Latin or Greek: crisis-crises,
phenomenon-phenomena, c) loan words not completely
assimilated phonetically some of them keep the accent
on the final syllable: ex. machine, cartoon, police.
some of them contain sounds or combinations of sounds
that are not standard for the Eng language and do not
occur in native words: ex. bourgeois, sabotage, memoir,
d) loan words not completely assimilated graphically:
ex. French borrowings in which the final consonant is
not pronounced: ex. bouquet, ballet, buffet,
3)
unassimilated loan words (barbarisms) they are used
by Eng people in conversation or in writing but not
assimilated in any way, and for which there are
corresponding Eng equivalents; ex. Italian: addio, ciao.
*Words of identical origin that occur in several language
as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings
from one ultimate source are called international words:
antennae, antibiotic, atomic.

10. Sequence of tenses (Morph)

The general principle is that in English the tenses of the
subordinate clauses must correspond with that of the
main clause if it is in the past. The most frequent and
obvious applications of this rule is in the case of indirect
speech where the tenses actually used by the speaker are
shifted back a degree in time to conform with the past
tense of the main clause. In the shifted tenses the past
perfect stands for the past simple, present perfect and
past perf. itself which cannot be shifted back any further.
He said: I have not seen her today = He said that he
had not seen her today.
This shifting of the tense is
used to dissociate the speaker from the idea he is
reporting and to represent this idea as subjective. This
can be seen from several facts: a) the sequence of tenses
is not used in connection with subjunctive mood forms.
He suggested that she leave immediately.
b) the S. of T. is frequently discarded when the statement
is a general truth from which the speaker does not want
to dissociate himself. The ancients thought that the sun
moved round the earth, they didnt know that it is the
earth that moves round the sun.
c) when it is not the case of a general truth that always
holds good, but nearly of a fact that is still true when the
statement is repeated, the S. of T. is obligatory in the
case of Pr. T. even though it may lead to apparent
illogicality. You always said that he was dead but here
he is. In such cases the back shifted tense comes close
to the past of reality.
d) The use of the past in connection with the future in
the main clause to express an action that is happening
now but by the time of the future action will be already
past. Tell her I died blessing her.
This is a device
which actually represents the past tense that will be used
in direct speech in the future.
Backshiftiing of the past simple or the present perfect to
the past perfect is not so essential. There seem to be
several tendencies operating against it, and it is difficult
to formulate definite rules, but two points seem fairly
clear:
- Backshifting is necessary when we wish to stress the
subjective nature of a statement. He said she was very
beautiful.
- Backshifting is necessary as a rule when we are
speaking of dynamic situations, less so when we are
speaking of states and circumstances. Backshifting is
thus generally avoided in subordinate temporal clauses.
He said: I hurt myself while I was bathing. = He said
that he had hurt himself.In such cases we get a rather
anomalous use of the past perfect referring to a situation
posterior to the coming one. The same occurs with
sentences that give the circumstance under which actions
take place. He said he was at the theatre last night and
had waved to us but we had taken no notice. The past
subjunctive were does not undergo back shifting. The
present perf. in contrast with the pr. simple does not
have to be shifted if it expresses smth. that is still true at
the moment of speaking. John told me he has been
promised a job with Smithsons. Backshifting is not
always dependent on a past tense form actually
expressed in a governing clause; often the main clause
may be understood. When were you going to Bristol? =
When did you were going to B. The question of the S. of
T. arises chiefly with object clauses giving the contents
of a thought or speech, but not as a rule with most other
types of subordinate clauses where the question of
subjective colouring does not arise. With most
subordinate clauses there is a logical relation b/n the
temporal plain of the main clause and that of the
subordinate clause. I didnt come to the party because
had a headache.
In simple subordination the logic of
the circumstances will inevitably bring about
correspondence between the tenses. He was already
there when I arrived.
In more complex degree of
subordination where indirect speech is also involved the
S. of T. is generally the rule. I will write to you when
Im in the humour. = I promised to write to you when I
was in the humour. Shifting of the Future the
backshifting of a future form represents a special
situation, since it often entails a shift of person too and
in this way the question of choice is b/n will and shall.
The tendency is to use the past tense form of the same
auxiliary as in direct speech. I will consider what I
shall demand. = He promised he would consider what
he should demand. When the change is from 2 or 3
person to 1 person, the aux. is usually altered. She hoped
I should be a good teacher. Backshifting of modal verbs:
must/ought to have no corresponding past forms and
remain unshifted. She said she must be back by ten.
When conclusion is implied must is combined with
perfect infinitives. He said there must have been at least
five of them.If had to occurs in the direct speech, the
indirect may take the phrase had had to or remain
unchanged. Conditional sentences expressing unreal
conditions do not usually change the verb phrase. He
said he would do it if I allowed him.
Commands and
exclamations in reported speech: commands are
indicated by the infinitive I told them to be quiet.;
exclamations How brave you are. = ..told him how
brave he was. Questions in reported speech all
questions in reported speech are indirect questions

normally introduced by the verb ask. Do you know her?

= She asked me if I knew her. Questions containing a
pro-predicate are also reported with ask. I dont know
the way, do you? = He said he didnt know the way and
asked her if she did.
Answers containing only yes or
no may be reported by a pro-predicate. Can you
swim, he said. No = He asked me if I could swim
and I said I couldnt.
12. Aspect (Morph)
I. Definition the category of A. in English is based on
two functional oppositions: 1) b/n progressive and nonprog. forms 2) b/n perfect and non-perf. forms
II. Opposition 1) reflects the eternal constituency under
verbal situation: a) progressive verb forms represent the
situation as incomplete (a process in progress) She is
singing now. b) activity performed repeatedly over a
period of time. He is typing his own letters these days.
c) the progressive may underline the temporary nature of
the situation. He is living in Turnovo now.
d) the
progressive tend to characterize the time rather than the
th
agent. In the 17 century Shakespeare was still living.
e) the progressive may function in contrast with the
perfect. A sun that had set/was setting. f) progressive
aspect forms sometimes have emotional colouring. You
are always making poor excuses.
g) the progressive
may be used for stylistic purposes: to make a question or
request more polite. When will you be starting.
The non-progressive form usually denotes completion in
the past. They lived in Paris for 10 years. The nonprog. form in the past tense may also be used to denote
habitually repeated situations. He went to the seaside
each summer. The pr. non-prog. form may be used with
the following meaning: a) habitually repeated situations
He writes for the newspapers. b) permanent feature of
the subject She speaks Spanish fluently. c) activities
coinciding with the present moment such as sports
commentaries, demonstrations, stage directions, cases in
which the words themselves form part of the activity
they report. I declare the meeting closed.
d) in
conditional clauses denoting real conditions with nonpast time reference. I might tell him if he comes. e) in
temporal clauses after the conjunctions: when, before,
after. I was reading when he arrived.
III. Perfect non-perfect: This is an opposition of quite
different nature. Perfect forms locate the situation
reported prior to the moment of speaking or some fixed
moment in the past or future. The perfect form is
therefore used to connect an action that has taken place
in the past with some fixed moment of time be it present,
past or future. This can be done either by expressing the
result of the action as it affects the fixed moment of time
or by regarding the time of the action as part of a period
stretching up to the fixed moment. Perfect forms can
express the following meanings: a) result: when we are
thinking not so much of what actually happened at a
given moment of time as of its effect on the present state
of affairs we employ the present perfect form. I have lost
my watch would you please tell me the time. I lost my
watch out hiking last Sunday. Resultant actions will be
expressed without any time indication, because the time
of the situation is not important, only its result. When the
important point is who performs the action the nonperfect form should be used. Who broke the window?
When the speaker is not referring to one definite
occurrence but to smth. that may have been done by
various people at different times the perfect form should
be used. Who has read Great Expectations?
b)
Persistent situation: the pr.perf. may be used either to
express an action covering a period of time up to the
present moment or repeated momentary action
performed at some point during such a period. Typical
time indications demanding the perf. form in such cases
will be: for two days, for several minutes, these two
hours, this morning. I have seen her twice today.
Up till now, not yet, ever since, since then all these
time indications include in themselves the idea of the
present moment. Ive been away most of this year.
Time indications referring to a definite point or period of
time in the past will demand non-perf. form. I was born
in 1979.
Some adverbs of time however are
polysemantic and it is only when they refer to a definite
moment of time that they exclude the use of the perfect.
Then (at that time) this adverb demands the past
simple form. When it means accordingly it may take the
perfect. Then you actually have seen him do that.
Once (at a certain time) with this meaning it requires
the past simple form of the verb. He once lived in Sofia
for 2 years. When once means a single time it requires
the use of the perfect form. I have seen him only once.
Before (before then) requires the past simple. ..before
he arrived.
Before now in this sense it requires the pr.perf. I have
never seen him before.
Since as an adverb it means
from that time till now and contrast with after fro that
time but not up to the present. Since the invention of gun
powder, wars have become more cruel. He became
more sober after his marriage. As a conjunction since
means from the time when smth. happened. The main
clause in such cases takes the perfect, but the
subordinate clause after since will be in past simple.
Much has happened since I last wrote to you.
With verbs of intellectual state in the main clause the pr.
simple may be used instead of the pr.perf., in the
subordinate clause we should use the perfect. I feel
easier in my mind since I have spoken to him.
c) experience when the period of time over which a
situation takes place is represented as an indefinite
period stretching up to the present moment, we get a
structural type that may be similar outwardly with the

result of the perfect, the difference being that in the

context even the result is of no great importance. All that
matters is that the action has been performed at some
time or other. Have you ever Chinese food?
This type
of meaning is frequently confirmed with the use of
adverbs such as: ever, never, always, lately, recently.
d) the perfect of recent past in contrast to the other
uses, the perfect of recent past can be contrasted with
past simple suggesting infrequent repetitions. He rarely
remarked on what he read, but I have seen him sit and
think of it. The past perf. form may occur as the result
of backshifting in reported speech.
IV. used to + inf. and would + inf. these two types of
phrases can be used to denote habitual activities in the
past. Used to may be employed in sentences with verbs
of state with non-personal subject. There used to be a
monument in the middle of the square.
The implication is that the situation does not take place
any more. When used to is combined with dynamic
verbs the gram. meaning is that of repetition. They used
to get up early in the morning and swim in the sea.
Would can only be used with dynamic verbs. This
phrase implies repetition in particular circumstances.

10. Tense (Morph)

Tense is a gram. category of the finite verb forms in the
indicative mood. Tense locates verbal situations in time.
Time is a property of reality and is independent of
human ???. Time is reflected by man through his
perceptions and intellect and finds its expression in
language. Time is appraised by the individual in
reference to the moment of his or her immediate
perception of the extralinguistic reality. The moment of
immediate perception (present moment) is continually
shifting in time. The linguistic content of the present
moment is the moment of speaking. The moment of
speaking serves as the demarcation line b/n the past and
the future. The linguistic expressions of time, according
as they refer or do not refer to the denoted situations,
directly or indirectly, to the moment of speaking are
divided into absolute expressions of time (present
oriented) pr relative expressions of time (oriented
relatively to some other point or period of time which is
identifiable in the larger context). Time denotation may
be detailed (absolute names of time now, in the past,
very soon, yesterday; factual at the epoch of Napoleon,
during the time of WW1; relative correlating 2 or more
events at one and the same time with, before that). Of
all the temporal meanings conveyed by such detailing
lexical denotation of time, the finite verb generalizes in
its categorial forms only the most abstract significations
taking them as characteristics of the reflective situation.
It is the category of T. that forms the necessary
background for the adverbial contextual time denotation
in an utterance.
In modern English the cat. Of T. can be said to operate in
2 correlated stages. At the first stage, the situation
receives an absolute time characteristics by means of
opposing the past tense form to the present. The marked
member of this opposition is the past form. At the
second stage, the situation receives a elative time
characteristics by means of opposing the forms of the
future to forms of no future marking. Thus we have
future and future in the past.
Present simple form. In all the uses of the pr. s. form,
there is a basic association with the moment of speaking.
1. Usage (unrestricted use) this use is found with verbs
of state. It places no limitation on the extension of the
state into past and future time. War solves no problems.
Limits to the duration of the state may be implied by an
adverbial modifier which indicates a contrast of the
present with some other period. War no longer solves
any problems.
The present simple is suitable in the
expression of general truth and so is found in scientific
statement for all time. Two and three makes five.
2.
Instantaneous use the i. use of the present simple
occurs with verbs of non-state. This form denotes an
event or an action simultaneous with the moment of
speaking. It normally occurs in certain easily definable
contexts: a) commentaries; b) demonstrations (TV
shows). In most of these case the event or action
probably doesnt take place exactly at the instant when it
is mentioned, its subjective rather than objective
simultaneity that is conveyed. c) in exclamations Up
we go! d) in stage directions The specter vanishes.
e) the situation and the act of speaking are identical I
accept your offer. This usage is more characteristic of
ceremonial contexts ship launching. 3. Habitual use
the h. use of the pr. s. form is confined to verbs of nonstate. The habitual present represents a series of
situations. He who hesitates is lost. To emphasise the
element of repetition in such sentences one might
paraphrase them. Every time one hesitates is lost.
Sometimes a plural object helps to single out the
habitual meaning. He scores a goal. (instantaneous)
He scores goals. (habitual) On other occasions, an
adverbial expression of frequency reinforces the notion
of repetition. He cycles to work twice a week. When
the verb permits both instantaneous and habitual
interpretations, some other linguistic indication of
iteration should be supplied. 4. Simple present referring
to the future. The simple pr. may refer to future time
exclusive of the present. I start work next week. 5.
Simple present referring to the past. This use is
traditionally known by the term historic present. In this
case past happenings are portrayed or imagined as if
they were going on at the moment of speaking. The
present tense form is accompanied by an adverbial
modifier indicating past time. The present tense form is
used with past time reference in two diff. situations: a)
as highly-coloured popular style of oral narrative; b) to
narrate fictional events
A diff. kind of historic present is formed with verbs of
communication. John tells me you are getting married.
The present simple may be used to cover information
which in strict historical terms belongs to the past
(literary criticism).
Free variation b/n past and present simple forms occurs
in cross-references from one part of the book to another.
The problem was/is discussed in chapter II above.
Simple past form. there are two elements of meaning
involved in the commonest of past tense. One basic
component of meaning is: the situation takes place
before the present moment. This means that the present
moment is excluded. He lived in Italy for 10 years.
Another component of meaning is: the speaker has a
definite time in mind. This specific time in the past is
characteristically
by
an
adverbial
expression
accompanying the P.T.F. of the verb. Once this was a
beautiful spot.
With the P.T.F. a difference b/n state
and non-state is less significant than it is with the present
tense form. The past simple form applies only to
completed situations. There is nothing in the past

corresponding to an indefinitely extensive present state.

Even whole eras of civilization may appear as complete
indivisible happenings. For the past simple form there
is no clear cut contrast b/n instantaneous and
unrestrictive uses of the present. There is, however, a
distinction to be drawn b/n the so-called unitary past and
the habitual past describing a repeated situation. In those
days he enjoyed a game of tennis.
There is also a
contrast b/n past situations happening simultaneously
and past situations happening in sequence. He enjoyed
and admired the sonnets of Shakespeare. He
addressed and sealed the envelope. The first sentence
doesnt alter its meaning if the order of verbs is reversed,
but an alteration of the order of verbs in the second
sentence suggests an alteration in the order in which the
situations took place.
Other temporal relations b/n two consecutive P.T.F. are
possible if overtly signaled by a conjunction or an
adverbial expression or if made clear by our knowledge
of historical precedence. The Portuguese lived on the
fringes of Mediterranean civilization; the F. had the
advantage of being in its midst.
The past tense is used in syntactically dependant clauses
to express hypothetical meaning. Its time we had a
holiday. Two extensions of the normal past meaning: 1)
the past tense is the natural form of the verb to employ
in narrative. Whether the situations narrated are true
historical events or the fictional events of a novel. There
has grown up a convention of using the past for narrative
even when the events portrayed are supposed to take
place in the future as science fiction. In the year 2121
the interplanetary transit vehicle X. made a routine
journey to the moon with 30 people on board. 2) The
second special development of the normal past meaning
is the use of the past simple in some contexts of
everyday conversations refer to the present feelings or
thoughts of the people talking. Did you want me? Yes,
I hoped you would give me a hand with the painting.
The subject of this exchange would probably be the
present wishes of the second speaker. The present and
past are interchangeable in this context, but there is quite
an important difference in tone. The effect of the past
tense form is to make the request indirect, thus more
polite. The speaker is quite prepared to change his own
attitude in the light of the attitude of the listener. The use
of the present tense form in this situation would seem
rather demanding if it would make a request more
difficult to refuse without impoliteness. The past tense
form may be used to point a contrast with an unspoken
present alternative. I thought you were leaving. (..but
now I see you are not.)
Imaginary use of the Present Simple Form. The
S.Pr.F. may be used with reference not to real time but to
imaginary present time (fictional use). Technically, a
distinction may be made b/n the historic use of the
present and its fictional use. It is customary for novelists
to use the past tense to describe imaginary situations.
The employment of simple present strikes one as a
deviation from normal practice. Some writers use the
present in imitation of the popular present tense form of
spoken narrative. Mr. T. takes out his papers, asks
permission to place them on the golden table at my
ladys elbow, puts on his spectacles and starts reading
by the light of the shaded lamp. The succession of the
Pr.T.F. so used tends to represent a sequence of events.
In some other narrative contexts the Pr.T.F. is
conventional (in stage directions). Similarly, installments
of serial stories (shown on the radio, TV or periodicals)
usually begin with recapitulation of previous
installments in the present tense. The story so far: J. B.
visits his aunt
Another special use of the present
simple is that of the travelogue itinerary. To reach the
lake, we make our way up to the source of the river,
then

16. Modal Verbs (Morph)

I. Modality it is a functional semantic category which
expresses the speakers view on the relation b/n the
activity reported in the sentence and reality. Modality
can be expressed in the realm of the sentence in different
ways: 1) mood indicative (I speak English.);
imperative (Speak English!); subjunctive (God save the
Queen!)
2) modal adverbs Perhaps, its raining.(probably,
possibly, maybe) 3) modal verb phrases It must be
raining.
II. Modal verbs they represent a situation as possible
or impossible, certain or doubtful, necessary or
unnecessary etc. They neednt be used in every sentence
and they are to be regarded as an optional meaning of
expressing modality. The category of mood, however, is
marked in every sentence because its indispensable to
predication. Modal adverbs express different degrees of
certainty on the part of the speaker or the desirability of
the action of the speakers point of view. We find the
following modal verbs in English: can, may, must, shall,
will, need, ought to, would, could, might, dare. Besides
the aux. have and be can constitute modal verb phrases.
A modal verb in combination with the infinitive of a
notional verb constitutes a compound verbal modal
predicate. M.V. are defective since their paradigms lack
many forms characteristic of regular verbs: no 3 rd person
singular in the present simple tense, no non-finite forms
(inf., particles, gerund), they have no analytical forms,
some of them lack the past tense form. M.V. have two
structural peculiarities: a) they are followed by the
infinitive of the notional verb without to (with the
exception of ought). You may go out.
b) their
interrogative and negative forms are constituted without
the aux. do.
M.V. normally can express two types of
meaning: 1 the speaker imposes the situation onto
reality. You must submit the essay by Friday. 2 the
speaker interprets the relation b/n the situation reported
and reality. It must be raining outside.
Each of the
modal meanings is characterized by a specific usage
some of the meanings may be found in all kinds of
sentences; other meanings occur in only in affirmative,
others only in negative and others occur only in
interrogative. Different meanings may be associated
with different forms of the infinitive. You must do it. If
M.V. have more than one form (will would) their
different meanings are not necessarily found in all their
forms. The M.V. should and might can be used with
reduced modal meaning in combination with a notional
verb as a substitute of the subjunctive mood form of the
notional verb. Its necessary that an investigation be
made (Am.Engl.) should be made (Br.Engl.).
III. Semantic juxtaposition of M.V.
Can/may the use of can and may is parallel only in two
meanings: possibility (due to circumstances) and
permission. In these meanings however they are not
interchangeable. You may find this book at the library.
He can find this book in the library.
Their time reference is always different. May refers only
to present or future, the form might is used with past
time reference only in reported speech. He said I might
find the book at the library.
Can/could - may refer to present past or future. He can
find the book in the library.
Could/might combined with a perfect infinitive of the
notional verb indicate that the action is not carried out in
the past. When may/can express permission, the
difference between them is rather that of style than of
meaning. May is more formal than can. May I
speak;Can I have Besides, the verb may in negative
sentences expresses prohibition, but this use is not very
common. You may not do that.
May/must can be compared in two meanings:
a) supposition may denotes certainty, must denotes
strong probability. He may be an actor. He must be in
his office now.
b) they can express prohibition in negative . In negative
answers to questions with may, asking for permission we
generally find mustnt. May I smoke here? No, you
mustnt.
must/have to/ be to must indicates obligation or
necessity imposed by the speaker. He must do it himself,
I wont help him. Have to expresses necessity imposed
by the circumstances. He has to do it himself, he has got
nobody to help him.
Had to implies that the situation took place in the past.
He had to do it himself.
Be to expresses necessity, resulting from previous
arrangement. We are to wait for them at the entrance.
Sometimes the idea of obligation is absent in be to, and
the meaning is that of a previously arranged plan. We are
to go to the cinema tonight. In public notices we find
must because they express obligation imposed by some
authorities. Visitors must not feed the animals. If the
speaker wishes to make it clear that the plan was not
fulfilled the perfect infinitive should be used. We were to
have met him at the station. In reported speech (in past
time context) must remains unchanged in all of its
meanings. They believed the story must be true.
Shall/should historically they were two forms of the
same verb expressing obligation but later they came to
express different meanings so that in present day English
their use is not parallel and they are treated as two diff.
verbs. Shall - 1. The modal meaning of obligation in
shall is always associated with its function as future aux.
The use of shall with second and third persons is
restricted to formal style and is mainly found in
subordinate clauses. 2. It is used in affirmative and
negative with the first and third persons, shall is used

to ask after the will of the addressee. Shall I get you

some coffee? Should used with a reference to the
present or future and remains unchanged in reported
speech. It has the following meanings: 1. Advisability
you should go to bed. Its late. The combination should +
perf. inf. has past time reference. He should have stayed
at home.2. Strong probability of the speakers
supposition. The film should be very good as it is
starring first class actors. In this case it equals must. 3.
Emotional colouring the use of should in this case is
structurally dependent. Why should I help you? 4.
Weakened aux. should is used in some types of
subordinate clauses with strongly reduced modal
meaning. I am sorry that this should have happened.
Must/ought to/should
All the three verbs can express obligation. Must sounds
forceful. You must answer right away.
Should and
ought to are often interchangeable when expressing
obligation. Ought to lays more stress on moral
obligation. You ought to help him. Should is commonly
used in instructions and corrections. You should use a
fork for the eggs.
Should/ought to/was to + perf.inf.
Should and ought to + perf.inf. show that the action has
not been carried out though it was desirable. You should
have helped him. Was to + perf.inf. indicates an action
that has not been carried out though it was planned. He
was to have arrived last week.
Will/would
Would is historically the past tense form of will. Its used
in 2 ways: 1. in past time context to represent a situation
as an actual fact. 2. in non-past time context to express
unreality or as a more polite form of will. Will/would are
treated as forms of the same verb with the basic meaning
of volition (a general term which includes such
meanings as consent, intention, willingness, and
determination to perform an action). However, in some
of their meanings the use of Will is parallel only to
would denoting an actual fact in the fact; in other
meanings will is found alongside of would expressing
unreality with non-past time reference. Would
expressing an actual fact in the past; 1. habitual action.
In this meaning Will/would are found in affirmative .
She would sit for hours under the tree 2.refusal to
perform an action. He was wet through but he wouldnt
change. 3. The subject fails to perform its immediate
function. I tried but the door wouldnt open. 4. used with
the first person to express determination. I would do
anything for him. Will/would expressing unreality in the
present: 1. in interrogative , expressing willingness or
consent. Will you dine with me tomorrow? 2. the clauses
of condition, introduced by if. If you will only let me
talk, we are not going to quarrel.
The use of Will/would is not parallel in the following
cases: 1. will may be used to express supposition with
reference to the present or future. This meaning is found
with second and third persons. You will have heard the
news, Im sure. 2. would may be used rather sarcastically
to imply that the situation was not expected. I dont
understand him and I dont approve of his decision. No,
you wouldnt.
Will/would in set phrases: Boys will be boys. Would can
be used as a weakened aux. I wish they wouldnt do it.
Expression of absence of necessity the following verbs
express necessity must, have to, be to, should, ought
to. But the verbs must, be to, should and ought to in their
negative forms do not express absence of necessity. It
can only be expressed by the negative forms of need and
have to. Neednt indicates that the speaker gives
authority to the subject or the non-performance of an
action. You neednt go there. Dont have to is used when
absence of necessity is based on external circumstances.
You dont have to come to school on Monday. In the past
tense dont have to both indicates that there was no
necessity and hence no action. You didnt have to go
there.

9. Verb (Morph)
The V is the most complicated grammatical word class
because it performs a central role in the expression of
the predicative functions of the . The V has a
complicated structure of grammatical categories. The V
has also various sub-class divisions, what is more the V
falls into two sets of forms profoundly different from
each other. The finite and non-finite sets of forms. 1)
semantic features of the V: the generalized meaning of
the V is a situation presented dynamically. This
generalized meaning is embedded in the semantics of all
the Vs including those that denote states, events, forms
of existence, types of attitude and so on. This holds true
not only about the finite Vs but also about the non-finite
Vs. This is proved by the fact that in all of its forms the
V can be modified by an adverb and with the transitive
V it takes a direct object. The most generalized meaning
of the notional V determines its characteristics and
combine ability with nouns expressing the agent
(subject) and in cases of the transitive V. The generalized
meaning of the V also determines its combine ability
with an adverb which modifies the V. 2) syntactic
functions of the V: in the the finite V invariably
performs the function of the predicate expressing the
categorical features of predication (tense, mood, person,
number). The non-finite V performs various other
syntactic functions except the function of the predicate
because they cannot express tense, mood, person and
number. 3) formal features word building patterns: a)
the V stems may be simple (go, read), b) built by means
of conversion of the noun verb type (to cloud), c)
sound replacive blood, to bleed, d) stress replacive
transport, to transport, e) through prefixation large, to
enlarge, f) through suffixation stupid, to stupefy, g)
compound V stems blackmail, h) phrasal V stems:
there are two structural varieties: h,1) have, give, take +
noun ex. take a walk, h,2) verb + postfix ex. stand
up, get off. The grammatical categories of the V are:
tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number and are
only marked in the present simple form as well as in the
past forms of the V to be. According to their lexicogrammatical features the Vs can be notional (with full
nominative value), semi-notional and functional (with
partial nominative value).
V
/
\
Notional
semi-notional and functional
/
|
\
|
|
|
Trans intrans link
catenative modal auxiliary
Transitive Vs usually combine with objects in the :
they gave Tom the job. Intransitive Vs cannot take an
object: the train arrived a 5 oclock at the station. Link
Vs function as a structural link between the subject and
the subject complement: he is a teacher. Catenative Vs
introduce non-finite forms of notional Vs in the : he
had his hair cut. Modal Vs express the relation between
the reported situation and reality and are used with the
infinitive of the notional V: you must do it. Auxiliary Vs:
be, have (they constitute analytical, grammatical forms
expressing categorial meanings), do (used in negative
and interrogative s with predicates in the present
simple form or on the past simple form). Modal and
auxiliary Vs share four properties called NICE
properties N for negation, I interrogation, C code,
E emphasis. Semantic classification of notional Vs
(based on the relation of the subject of the V to the
denoted situation).
| - Quality
| - intellectual
| - STATE- | - Temporary state | - emotion/attitude
|
| - Private state ------- | - perception
|
| - Stance
| - bodily sensation
Situation
type
| - goings-on
|
|--EVENT - | - process
|
|
| - momentary event
|
|
| - transitional event
|- NON-STATE ---|
|
| - activity
|-- ACTION - | - accomplishment
| - momentary act
| - transitional act
1) State refers to people or things, what they are like,
the position they have taken: a) the Vs of quality be,
have: she is beautiful; b) Vs of temporary state be,
have: she is happy; c) private state: c.1) intellectual
know, like, c.2) attitude like, love, hate, c.3) perception
hear, see, c.4) hurt, itch, ache, d) stance: - position, action, 2) non-state : a) events refer to things that
happen. There is no stated human or animate agent or
instigator for an event: a.1) process a change of state
takes place or is implied ex. the general condition
appetite improved, a.2) momentary event an event
takes place in a moment of time ex. he fell on the
ground, a.3) transitional event an event is taking place
in a moment of time but entails a change of state ex.
they arrived at the station at 5 oclock, a.4) goings-on
such events take place involving an animate object. Such
events are viewed as being in progress. There is no
indication of an end to the going-on ex. this plan is still
working, b) actions: they do not just happen. They are
usually performed by an animate agent or instigator.
Actions are the result of the exercise of a will or
intention on the part of the agent. Actions are done by
someone. We can identify four types of actions
corresponding to the four types of events: b.1) activity
a person or other animate agent is involved in doing
something. The action is viewed as durative and no
result is implied she sang in clubs, b.2)
accomplishment a person undertakes an action with a

result or achievement. Accomplishments take place over

a period of time Bell discovered the phone. b.3)
momentary act an agent performs an action taking
place in a moment of time but without end or result he
kicked he door. b.4) transitional act the action takes
place in a moment of time and involves a change of state
he kicked the door open.

1. Simple (Synt)
For a better understanding of the we need a
complementary approach combining different definitions
and an outline of the major features of the . 1) the 1st
major feature of the is predicativity (pr-ty). This is the
structural feature of the (it does not refer to the
relation between the contents of the and reality).
Actually pr-ty is the backbone of the . Its also the
basis of human thinking and communication. Pr-ty
means saying something about something. Pr-ty is a
binary relation between two members one member (a
subject) is the thing which the thought or is about
and another member (the pr-te) which pr-tes something
about (describes) the subject. Pr-ve relations should be
differentiated from attributive relations. cf. very blue sky
attr-ve relation, the sky is blue pr-ve combination,
because it denotes some statement or thought whereas
the attr-ve relation is just a label of things, objects, etc.
By means of pr-ty we are able to relate one notion to
another and thus express a statement. cf. blue + sky are
notions but the sky is blue/should be blue/would have
been blue are statements formed on the basis of the
relation of these two notions. Inherently one of the
notions is what is being subjected to description (the
subject) and the other notion is the description thereof
(the pr-te). The subject is anchored in space whereas the
pr-te relates to time; thus they both make a spatial
temporal framework. Thus pr-ty relates closely to space
and time and a very terse definition of pr-ty is relating
features and characteristics to an object in space and
time. Pr-ty is most often expressed by the subject prte relation. Nevertheless in some cases there may be
verbless pr-tes (he a gentleman!) or there may be even
one member s (Help!, Fire!) which do express pr-ty but
in a rather truncated manner. 2) 2nd feature - modality
(M). M is not a structural but a semantic feature of the
. It has to do with the relation between the statement
and reality. A statement is the content of the i.e.
whether a statement is true (factive) or is regarded as
desirable, imaginable, compulsory etc. M may be
expressed by different means of language: the category
of mood, modal verbs (can, may etc), modal words
(perhaps, maybe, probably etc). 3) 3rd - intonation (I). I
is a two-fold function of the : to delimit the in the
flow of speech (one of the definitions of the is a
stretch of speech between two major pauses and pauses
are I-nal means). And the two-fold function of I is to
render communicative meanings such as interrogation,
exclamation, declaration. In some cases its only
intonation which makes the difference between a word
or phrase at one hand and a on the other: cf water and
Water!. cold water and Cold Water!?. The words and
phrases in these examples are simply labels and express
notions whereas the corresponding s express simple
thoughts and are units of communication. 4) 4th
grammatical well-formedness (GWF). GFW means that
a can only serve human communication if it is well
shaped in accordance with grammatical rules: cf. he
played vs. *he has play. Other features and aspects of the
: the is unique as compared to other linguistic units
such as words and phrases because s do not exist as
such in the language system they are created on the
spur of the moment. The is a chunk of text built up as
a result of speech making process; words and phrases are
listed in the lexicon of the language but there is no
preliminary list of s. The , just like any other unit of
language, is pairing of meaning and form. Thus a has
a semantic (meaning) aspect and a structural
(grammatical) aspect. And these are not necessarily in a
one-to-one correspondence. In some cases we have one
meaning expressed in different structures: ex. Jack owns
that car. That car belongs to Jack. In other cases we have
one structure with different meanings: ex. Flying planes
can be dangerous. Apart from a semantic and structural
aspects s also have a communicative (pragmatic)
aspect, where a distinction is drawn between old (given)
info and new (focal) info. The former is called theme
and the latter is called rheme. This pragmatic theory
stems from the Prague school of linguistics in 1930s and
is known in Bg-a as
and in Eng as functional perspective.
The simple is a which can be analyzed as a single
clause, in terms of subject, verb, adverbial modifier,
complement and object. These are the five syntactic
constituents of the Eng . The hub of the is the verb.
it determines to a large extent the pattern of the . And
according to different types of verbs there will be
different number and types of complements.
Structurally simple s can be divided into two-member
s and one-member s. ex. Jane smiled it contains
two main parts subject and predicate. There is a
relatively limited group of s which do not have the full
set of two main parts, only contain one main part and are
accordingly called one-member s. This one main part
is neither a subject nor a predicate because they are
correlative notions: ex. Fire!, Come on!. One member
s are to be distinguished from two-member elliptical
s: ex. You look vary sad. Why (should I)not (look
sad)? Verbless two-member s fall into two types: a)
subject-predicate type. The majority of s here are
exclamations expressing absurdity: ex. she a beauty!
James clever! Such s are not elliptical two-member s
because if a supposedly missing verb is supplied, this
would result in a radically different meaning. b)
predicate-subject type: ex nice thing beer, quite serious
this. Such s are kind of elliptical because the
meaning wouldnt change radically if a verb is inserted.
However only the communicative effect would not be
the same.

3. Reference (TL)
There are three types of reference (R): personal,
demonstrative (d-ve) and comparative. Personal
reference is reference by means of function in the speech
situation through the category of person. D-ve reference
is reference by means of location on a scale of
proximity. Comparative reference is indirect reference
by means of identity or similarity. We also have
extended R. and text R. The pronoun it may refer not
only to a noun or nominal expression but also to any
identifiable portion of text extended reference. It
may refer to a fact in which case we speak of text R. 1)
Personal R.: the category of personals includes:
personal pronouns, possessive determiners (usually
called possessive adjs) and possessive pronouns.
Personals referring to the speech roles: speaker and
addressee are typically exophoric (ex-ic). They become
anaphoric (an-ci) in quoted speech. Personals referring
to other roles are typically an-ic. They may be ex-ic
when the context of situation permits identification of
the referent in question. With generalized ex-ic reference
YOU and ONE mean any human individual. WE
is used in similar fashion but more concretely, involving
a particular group of individuals with which the speaker
wants to identify himself. We also distinguish ROYAL
and EDITORIAL WE, MEDICAL WE (how are
we?) and IMPERSONAL WE used in expository
writing. THEY is used to mean persons unspecified.
IT occurs as a universal operator in a few expressions
(Its hot/cold). In one respect possessive pronouns differ
from other personal reference items regarding their an-ic
function, whereas the other personals require only one
referent for their interpretation, possessive pronouns
demand two a possessor and a possessed. Possessive
pronouns are doubly an-ic because they are both
referential (to the possessor) and elliptical (to the thing
possessed). Third person pronouns other than IT may
refer cataphorically (cat-ic) to a defining relative clause
(he who hesitates is lost). All third person pronouns
occur in clauses in which their referent is delayed to the
end (they are good theses peaches). IT is very
frequently used in this way where the subject of the
clause is a nominalization (its true that he works very
hard). 2) d-ve R:
Neutral the
Near
near:
far:
Far (not near) singular
this
that
Selective participant
plural
these
those
place
here
there
circumstance time
now
then
The d-ves occur with an-ic function in all varieties of the
Eng. Both this/these and that/those refer an-ically to
something that has been said before with reference to
proximity. that tense to be associated with a past time
referent and this for one in the present and future
(that/this night). a) singular and plural. The plural forms
may refer an-ically not merely to a preceding plural
noun but also to sets that are plural in meaning. the
singular d-ves may refer to a whole list irrespective of
whether or not it contains items that are themselves
plural. b) head and modifier. a d-ve as modifier may
refer without restriction to any class of nouns. A d-ve as
head can refer freely to non-humans. The only instance
where d-ves can refer pronominally to human referents
whether an-ically or ex-ically is in relational clauses
where one element is supplying the identification of the
others (ex. do you want to know the woman who
designed it? that was marry smith.). 2.1) an-ic and cat-ic
d-ves. that is always an-ic. this may be either an-ic
or cat-ic. Structural cataphora is very common especially
with the definite article but it has no cohesive function.
Textual cataphora is true reference forward in the text
and therefore is cohesive. the in many ways resembles
the d-ves but it has no content. It merely indicates that
the item in question is specific and identifiable. The
reference is either ex-ic or endophoric. If it is ex-ic then
we can have specific situation (ex. dont go: the train is
coming) or simply any situation (ex. one member of a
class the son, a whole class the stars). With
endophora cat-ic reference is limited to the structural
type and is never cohesive (ex. the ascent of mount
Everest). The only case when the is cohesive is with
an-ic reference. It some cases the can be both cat-ic
and an-ic [the (cat) people we stayed with had four
children. The (cat. an) eldest girl was about nine.] or
even cat-ic, an-ic and ex-ic (look at the moon! The
daytime moon always seems so sad). The d-ve adverbs
here and there regularly refer to extended text and
then often with a meaning that is not one of place but
of respect (ex. you are wrong there). The temporal dves then and now are much more restricted in their
cohesive function. The cohesive use of the d-ve then
has the meaning of at the time just referred to and the
use of now is confined to those instances in which the
meaning is this state of affairs having come about. 3)
comparative reference:
identity same, equal, identical
General
similarity such, similar, likewise
|
difference other, else, different
Comparison
|
numerative more, fewer, so, many
Particular
epithet better, so good, as bad as
General comparison expresses likeness between things
(its the same cat as the one saw yesterday). With so
and such we may observe extended and text reference.
Particular comparison expresses comparison between
things in respect of a particular property. (we are
demanding higher living standards. Take some more
tea.)

4. Substitution (TL)
Substitution (S) is a relation between linguistic items
such as words or phrases whereas reference is a relation
between meanings and ellipses can be defined as S by
zero. According to the grammatical function of the
substitute (s-te) item there are three types of S: 1)
nominal (one, ones, same), 2) verbal (do), 3) clausal (so,
not). 1) nominal: the s-te one/ones always function as
head of a nominal group and can s-te only for an item
which is itself head of a nominal group (I dont like the
green dress. I like the red one). One has the same
function as dress head. There is no s-te for mass nouns
because with S a feature is repudiated and a new feature
is introduced (green dress, red dress). Ex These biscuits
are stale. Get some fresh ones. This bread is stale. Get
some fresh. The nominal s-te one, ones is always
accompanied by some modifying element. This element
is not necessarily the same in its structural function in
the nominal group as that which it repudiates (bullets
made of platinum (qualifier). Leaden ones (qualifier)).
So S is used where the reference is not identical or there
is at least some new specification to be added. one can
never s-te for a proper name, because a proper name is
already fully defined as unique (ex. have you seen john?
well I saw the tall one just now. (more than one john)).
With S there is always a contrast and re-definition. With
S we can introduce a feature without repudiating
another. (ex. did you like fires? Only wood one.)
Homonymy of one: a) the personal pronoun one
(generalized reference, used exophorically, no cohesive
function), b) cardinal number its not modified and is
always stressed (ex. he made one very good point), c)
the indefinite article one it belongs to the class of
non-specific determiners (a, any, either, neither). Its
plural form is some and it has the same function as
a. (ex. Id like a cup of coffee. Then pour yourself
one.) d) the pro-noun generic noun: it s-tes for human
reference. Generic nouns are person, people, man,
woman, child, boy, girl, object, stuff, business, matter,
affair. (ex. the children seemed to enjoy the outing. The
one who didnt was George.). The nominal s-te same
can s-te for: a) an adj (john sounded rather regretful.
Marry sounded the same), b) for a noun, c) for a fact
(john thought it was impossible. Yes I thought the same).
d) for a process (they all started shouting. So I did the
same) 2) verbal S: The verbal s-te in Eng is do. This
operates as head of a verbal group. do may s-te either
for a verb or for a verb + certain other elements in the
clause but it can never s-te for the whole clause. (Does
granny look after you every day? She cunt do at
weekends) At weekends is introduced, every day is
repudiated. Homonymy with do: 1) lexical verb do
appears in the following phrases and always transitive.
(do some job. I have work to do| Lets do the accounts).
2) General verb do (ex. that will do him good) 3) the
pro-verb: it s-tes for an unidentified and unspecified
process (Im glad hes doing something) 4) the
grammatical operator do (does she sing? Yes she does
(operator), No but Marry does (operator, sustitute). 3)
Clausal S: the positive form is so, the negative is
not. Clausal S takes place in report, condition and
modality. a) S of reported clauses (dont you think youd
be safer down on the ground? Of course I dont think so)
b) S of conditional clauses (everyone seems to think hes
guilty. If so, no doubt hell offer to resign). c) S of
modalized clauses (would you like my opening the
window. Certainly not). Unlike ellipses S does not occur
in the passive (has the doctor been called by anyone. * I
dont know. *I havent done. *Someone has done. No he
hasnt been(ellipses).

5. Connectors and connection (TL)

Connection refers to relations between propositions. The
presence of a connector is a signal that there is a
semantic
relation
between
two
propositions.
Propositions can also be connected without a connector.
Connectives can be: 1) conjunctions (coordinating and
subordinating: and, or, because, for, so,). Their function
is to make composite s from simple s. 2) sentential
adverbs (yet, nevertheless, consequently). They make s
out of s. 3) prepositions with a connective character
(due to, in spite of, as a result of), 4) interjections and
particles (you know, isnt it). Predicates of various
categories (to conclude, to concede, to add, it follows
that). 1) conjunctions: conjunctions are classified into: a)
conjunction, b) disjunction, c) concession, d) contrast, e)
condition, f) reason, g) finality, h) circumstantial (time,
place, manner). a) Conjunction and it may express:
a.1) simultaneous (ex. She is reading and he is writing).
a.2.) succession (ex. He opened the window and looked
out), a.3) location (ex. He went to the store and bought
some beer), a.4) conclusion (ex. the number 5 is a prime
number and it is divisible only by one or itself), a.5.)
conditionality (ex. Give me your picture and Ill give
you mine), a.6) cause (ex. Paul pounded on the stone and
he shattered it), b) disjunction: b.1) exclusive relation of
disjunction (ex. She is in the kitchen or in the bathroom),
exclusive disjunction is more natural if one of the
disjunctions if true the whole is true. It two are false the
whole is false. Exclusion can be: b.1.1.) necessary (ex.I
cannot be both married and single), b.1.2) accidental,
b.2) inclusive relation (Ex. He is a president or an actor
or both). If the speaker intends to do both alternatives
the use of the is incorrect pragmatically not
grammatically. c) conditionals facts determine or
condition each other. c.1) counterfactual conditionals
what is known is that the negation of the antecedent is
true (ex. If it had not rained, the soil would have dried
up), c.2) hypothetical conditionals the relation between
antecedent and consequent is cause and relation if
then; in case then. c.2.1) as if relation the
antecedent is true in the real world. The consequent is
assumed to be false in the actual world. It may denote a
comparison on apparent sufficient condition of the fact
expressed in the antecedent, c.3.) actual conditionals:
because, for, therefore, so, since, due to, hence, thus,
while, consequently, ass. d) contrastives their use for
exceptional causes of events. With contrastives the
antecedent is sufficient condition for the negation of the
consequent. They express unexpected or contrastive
relations between facts: but, though, although, yet,
nevertheless, whereas, in spite of, notwithstanding,
anyway. The contrastives are used to express nonsatisfaction of possible, probable or necessary condition.
but can be combined with yet and nevertheless
(ex. We slept late but nevertheless we caught the boat.
unexpected consequence). Events and properties can be
contrasted (ex. The glass was very thick, but
nevertheless it broke. event. The glass is very thick but
nevertheless it is fragile properties). e) sentential
adverbs yet, nevertheless, consequently, f) prepositions

6. Ellipsis (TL)
Ellipses (E) can be defined as substitution by zero. With
E something is unsaid but nevertheless understood. (ex.
John bought some carnations and Catherine some sweet
peas the verb is omitted. Would you like to hear
another verse. I know 12 more. the noun is omitted).
There are three types of Es: 1) nominal, 2) verbal, 3)
clausal. 1) nominal E has basically to do with what parts
in the nominal group can have the function of the head
after the head has become elliptical. The function of
head is always filled by a common noun, pronoun or
proper noun. Proper nouns and pronouns are not further
specified. Common nouns can be further specified by
deictic, numerative, epithet, classifier. When the
common noun is omitted the function of head is taken
over by one of the latter elements. 1)a) Determiners
functioning as head: determiners or deictic words are
specific and non-specific. The specific are demonstrative
pronouns, possessive pronouns and the definite article
the. The non-specific are each, every, all, both, any,
some, either, neither. (ex. The men got back at midnight.
All were tired out (all is a deictic word functions as
head)). (ex with non-specific determiners Here are my
two white silk scarves. Where are yours?). 1).b)In the
following example the numerative is upgraded to
function as head ex. Four other oysters followed them
and yet another four. the second four is head. 1)c)
epithet as a head ex. which lasts longer the curved
rods of the straight rods. The straight are less likely to
break. 1)d) classifier as head - Here are my two white
silk scarves. OK would you prefer the cotton. The
cotton if the classifier functioning as head. 2) Verbal
E: it is sub-divided into a) lexical E have you been
swimming? Yes I have (the verb is missing), b) operator
E What have you been doing? Jacking off. What
precedes the verb is missing. Ex. Taking photographs is
a waste of time (non-elliptical). What is he doing?
Taking photographs. Operator E. Another ex. Jane was
secretary once but I dont think Marry ever has been.
(non-elliptical). Jane should have been told but I dont
think she has been. (lexical E). 3) clausal Es: it is of two
types: a) modal and b) propositional. The is divided
into modal and propositional part. The modal element
embodies the speech functions of the clause. It consists
the subject plus the finite element of the verbal group.
The propositional element is the remainder of the verbal
group plus any complements or adjuncts. Part of the
propositional element can precede the modal element.
Ex In the park the duke was going to plant . the ___ is
the modal element. E occurs most often in questionanswer pairs. Modal E ex. What were they doing?
Holding dicks. The modal element is missing.
Propositional E: Has the plane landed? Yes it has.
I hear Peter is having an operation. Yes hes having an
operation (this is the full ). Yes he is. (propositional E).
With clausal E we have to omit more than one element.
With the omission of a single element we speak of
reference. The line between what is elliptical and what
not is not very sharp. Ex. 1. Simons playing. Lets not
interrupt. 2. Sandra cleans for me when Im out (the flat
is omitted). 3. Run! Here we do not have E though 1 can
be treated as elliptical because the complement is
missing.

11. Complex (Semant)

According to their structure s are subdivided into
simple and composite. simple s have
only one S-P group(a set of two main
parts-subject and predicate), whereas
composite s contain more than one
clause. Composite s are further
subdivided into compound and complex
sentences. The compound is structured
on the basis of coordination coordinated
clauses, while the complex is
structured on the basis of subordinationsubordinated clauses.
I. Subordination links units on different levels. only two
clauses can be linked by subordination. If there are two
clauses in the and one of them is subordinate then the
other is superordinate (main) clause. If two or more
independent clauses are coordinated, each of them can
be made superordinate in relation to other clauses.
subordination enables us to organize multiple clause
structures. Each subordinate clause may itself be
superordinate to one or more other clauses, so that a
hierarchy is built. 1) independent clause is a clause
capable of constituting a simple . 2) dependent clause
makes up a gram. only if subordinate to a further
clause. Ex. it is late (independent), *because it is late
(dependent). Im going home because it is late. (indep.
+dep.)
II. structural classification of dependent clauses. 1) finite
clause: a clause containing a finite verb. ex. because
John is working. 2) non-finite clause: containing a nonfinite verb. ex. (John) having seen the pictures. 3)
verbless clause : without verbal element.
Ex. although
always
helpful
(subordinator)
(adverbial)
(complement)
III. the complex is a unit which can be broken down
into immediately smaller units, which are clauses. One
of the factors which determine the order in which the
constituent clauses of a are arranged is the principle of
resolution the final clause bears maximum emphasis.
In reading aloud it is often marked by intonation. There
are three major types of subordination: 1) initial. Ex. If
you agree
we shall leave tonight. The initial
subordination is limited to one degree of embedding.
This is because no subordinate clause can itself be the
first element of another subordinate clause, but must at
least be preceded by a subordinator. Ex. [{That ( if you
could) you would help me} is of small comfort] where
if you could is subordinator 2) medial. Ex. We shall
leave, if you agree, tonight. Medial subordination is the
one that causes most difficulties of comprehension,
especially if the nested element is long and complex. 3)
final. Ex. We shall leave tonight, if you agree. There is a
tendency to favor final subordination. It can reduce
awkwardness to a minimum. Ex. [ It is of small comfort
{ that you would help me ( if you could) }] Temporal
clauses and if clauses favor the initial position. Adv.
correlative construction require initial placement of the
subordinate clause.
In spoken English where immediate ease of syntactic
composition and comprehension is important/necessary,
coordinate structures are often preferred to equivalent
structures of subordination: ex. subordination: As it was
wet, we decided to stay at home. Ex. coordination: it was
wet, (and ) so we decided to stay at home.
IV. when there are more than two clauses in a complex
, it is possible for ambiguities to arise through
alternative analysis that can be given to the same group
of clauses: ex. I knew that you had seen him before I met
you. interpretations: a) = I knew that, before I met you,
you had seen him. b) = before I met you, I knew that you
had seen him.
Ex. He knows and I know that he knows. The question is
whether the final subordinate clause belongs to the
second of the coordinate clauses, or to both together.
Punctuation or intonation can distinguish them: a) he
knows, and I know that he knows. b) He knows, and I
know, that he knows. Ex.
Something tells me hes cheating and I cant do anything
(indep. clause)
(subor.clause) (coordinate clause)
to make it clear we reintroduce that into the second
of the two subordinate clauses: something tells me that
he is cheating and (that) I cant do anything.
V. Devices for avoiding ambiguity: 1) altering the order
of the clauses. 2) using punctuation. 3) supplying
elippted elements 4) using intonation.

1. Text and Discourse (TL)

The word text is used in linguistics to refer to any
passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does
form a unified whole. A text may be spoken or written,
prose or verse, dialogue or monologue. It may be
anything from a single proverb to a whole play, from a
momentary cry for help to an all-day discussion on a
committee. A text is best regarded as a semantic unit: a
unit not of form but of meaning. thus it is related to a
clause or not by size but by realization, the coding of
one symbolic system in another. A text does not consist
of s ; it is realized by, or encoded in, s. text is a
communicative occurrence that has the following
features (seven aspects of textuality): cohesion the
grammaticalized aspects of context (reference, elipsis,
substitution, connectedness), coherence expressed ,
informativity, situationality, intertextuality, intentionality
and acceptability. A text is a unit of language in use.
Language is the basic menas of communication. s are
not isolated, we communicate with sequences if
utterances and pair s with the context of their use, even
if the text is a single . Text is referred to as a process or
product when we think of it as process we usually refer
to it as discourse. Discourse analysis is the analysis of
language in use. As such it cannot be restricted to the
description of linguistic forms independent of the
purposes or functions which these forms are designed to
serve in human affairs. Discourse analysis is concerned
with language in use in social contexts, in particular with
interactional dialogues between participants. We
distinguish also between context of situation and
cognitive context (in our mind); cultural context. When
speaking of social context we mean the definition of self
and situation. Cognitive context concerns our past
experience and knowledge. Cultural contexts have to do
with shared views and meanings. Context is always
genitive and language is communicative addressed to
a person, interpreter who is always a recipient. The
messages
we
convey
can
be
informative,
communicative, interactive (their aim is to modify the
behaviour of the recipient Open the window).
Language is reflected even in syntax. Communicative
processes guide the emergence and development of
syntactic structures. There is much in the structure of
languages that can only be explained on the assumption
that they have developed for communication in face-toface interaction. The features of language to prove that
language is designed for communication are: 1)
redundancy of meaning it is designed to ease the
process of communication. 2) designed from the point of
view of the recipient theme and dream; it takes into
account the current state of information of the recipient.
The basic properties of language are structure, meaning,
action it forms a structure, conveys meaning and
accomplishes actions.

2. Cohesion and Coherence main aspects of text

(TL)
When we speak of cohesion we first need a term to refer
to a single instance of cohesion a term for one
occurrence of a pair of cohesively related items this is
called a tie. We can characterize any segment of text in
terms of the number and kinds of ties which it displays.
The different kinds of cohesive tie are the basis on which
we can distinguish between the different kinds of
cohesion: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction,
and lexical cohesion.
The concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to
relations of meaning that exist within the text and that
define it as a text. Cohesion occurs where the
interpretation of some element in the discourse is
dependent on that of another. The one presupposes the
other, in the sense that it cannot be effectively decoded
except by recourse to it. When this happens, a relation of
cohesion is set up, and the two elements, the
presupposing and the presupposed, are thereby at least
potentially integrated into a text. Cohesion is part of the
system of a language. The potential for cohesion lies in
the systematic recourses of reference, ellipsis and so on
that are built into the language itself. Cohesion is
expressed partly through the grammar and partly the
vocabulary. We can refer therefore to grammatical
cohesion and lexical cohesion. In Wash and core six
cooking apples. Put the apples into a fireproof dish.,
one of the ties is grammatical (reference, expressed by
the), the other lexical (reiteration, expressed by
apples). The types of cohesion reference,
substitution and ellipses are grammatical, but we also
have lexical cohesion. Conjunction is on the borderline
of the two; mainly grammatical, but with a lexical
component in it. Cohesion is a semantic relation. But,
like all components of the semantic system, it is realized
through the lexico-grammatical system; and it is at this
point that the distinction can be drawn. Some forms of
cohesion are realized through the grammar and others
through the vocabulary. It may be added that certain
types of grammatical cohesion are in their turn
expressed through intonation.
Since cohesive relations are not concerned with
structure, they may be found just as well within a as
between s. Cohesive relations have in principle nothing
to do with boundaries. Cohesion is a semantic relation
between an element in the text and some other element
that is crucial to the interpretation of if. This other
element is also to be found in the text; but its location is
in no way determined by the grammatical structure. the
two elements, the presupposing and the presupposed,
may be structurally related to each other, or they may
not; it makes no difference to the cohesive relation.
What cohesion has to do with is the way in which the
meaning of the elements is interpreted. Where the
interpretation of any item in the discourse requires
making reference to some other item in the discourse,
there is cohesion.

7. Lexical Cohesion (TL)

Lexical cohesion (LC) embraces two distinct though
related aspects which we refer to as reiteration and
collocation. Reiteration is a form of lexical cohesion
which involves the repetition of a lexical item, or the
occurrence of a synonym of some kind, in the context of
reference; i.e. where the two occurrences have the same
referent. A reiterated item may be a repetition, a
synonym or near-synonym, a superordinate or a general
word; and in most cases it is accompanied by a reference
item, typically the. Ex. 1. There was a large mushroom
growing near her, she stretched herself up on tiptoe,
and peeped over the edge of the mushroom. (repetition
of mushroom). 2. I took leave and turned to the ascent of
the peak. The climb is perfectly easy (climb refers
back to ascent, of which it is a synonym.) 3. He clutched
the sword and threw it. The great brand made
lightnings(here brand refers to sword, of which it is a
near synonym). 4. Henrys bought himself a new Jaguar.
He practically lives in the car. (here car refers back to
Jaguar; and it is a superordinate of Jaguar that is, a
name for a more general class.) All these instance have
in common the fact that one lexical item refers back to
another, to which it is related by having a common
referent. This general phenomenon is regarded as
reiteration. Collocation ex. Why does this little boy
wriggle all the time? Girls dont wriggle. girls and
boys are hardly synonyms, nor is there any possibility
of their having the same referent; they are mutually
exclusive categories. Yet their proximity in a discourse
very definitely contributes to the texture. There is
obviously a systematic relationship between a pair of
words such as boy and girl; they are related by a
particular type of oppositeness, called complementarity.
We can therefore extend the basis of the lexical
relationship that features as a cohesive force and say that
there is cohesion between any pair of lexical items that
stand to each other to some recognizable lexical
semantic (word meaning) relation. This would include
not only synonyms and near synonyms such as climbascend, decease-illness, and superoridantes such as elmtree, boy-child, but also pair of opposites of various
kinds, complementaries such as boy-girl, stand up-sit
down, antonyms such as like-hate, wet-dry (pussy) etc.
and converses such as order-obey. It also includes pairs
of words drawn from the same ordered series. Ex. If
Tuesday occurs in one and Thursday in another, the
effect will be cohesive; similarly dollar-cent, NorthSouth. The members of such sets often stand in some
recognizable relation to one another; they may be related
as part to whole, like car-brake, box-lid, or as part-topart, like mouth-chin. The members of any such set
stand in some kind of semantic relation to one another,
but for textual purposes it does not much matter what
this relation is. There is always the possibility of
cohesion between any pair of lexical items which are in
some way associated with each other in the language. So
it is to be found a very marked cohesive effect deriving
from the occurrence in proximity with each other of
pairs such as the following, whose meaning relation is
not easy to classify in systematic semantic terms: laughjoke, blade-sharp, ill-doctor. The cohesive effect of such
pairs depends not so much on any systematic semantic
relationship as on their tendency to share the same
lexical environment, to occur in collocation with one
another. In general, any two lexical items having similar
patterns of collocation that is, tending to appear in
similar contexts, will generate a cohesive force if they
occur in adjacent s.

6. The articles specific/generic reference (Morph)

I. Articles (a, the) the use of the articles is not the only
possibility for determining nouns in the gram. sense of
the word. There are other lingual units that function in a
similar way: possessive, demonstrative, interrogative,
indefinite, negative, defining pronouns. These words are
called determiners. They constitute a closed system. This
means that they are of limited number and their number
cannot be expanded by the creation of additional
elements. Within this system the articles are central i.e.
they have no function independent of the noun they
precede. Furthermore the articles have no lexical
meaning of their own but only contribute definite gram.
status to the nouns they determine. The dependence is
not unilateral. The definite article can occur with
common countable and uncountable nouns. a/an can
occur only with single nouns. The articles and the rest of
the elements in this closed system are closely connected
with the nouns they determine. In addition to
determiners there is a large number of other items that
occur in determinative function in combination with
some central determiner. We can divide those units into
two groups: pre and post determiners. 1) Predet. are
unique in occurring before the determiner. They can be
grouped into three varieties: a) all, both, half, b)
multiplier double, twice, thrice, c) fractions . Predeterminers are reciprocally exclusive. 2) Post
determiners can be subdivided into: a) ordinals first,
other, last. There are two kinds of patterning with ordinal
numbers: first, next + cardinal numbers = first two.
Second, third and the other ordinals cannot be followed
by any quantifier and modify singular countable nouns.
Cardinals and quantifiers are mutually exclusive, b)
Cardinal numbers are used in the following way: one
accompanies singular countable nouns, two, three
combine with plural countable nouns. ex. all the four
brothers are sailors, c) quantifiers many, little, more,
several. These are mutually exclusive several occurs
without an indefinite article. Ex. several charming girls.
Plenty of, a lot, of lots of also function as post
determiners. II. Articles with common nouns concrete
countable nouns are used with generic reference. When
it is used like this the distinction between singular and
plural and the distinction between definite and indefinite
are gram. irrelevant. Ex. Kittens like to play. A kitten
likes to play. 4) common countable nouns used with
specific reference. Ex. There is a kitten playing on the
sofa. Some kit.. 5) abstract nouns as a rule do not
take an article when standing alone. Ex. you must learn
to face life seriously. Sometimes concrete nouns acquire
abstract meanings this shift of meaning results in a
shift of semantic subclass. Such nouns are treated as
uncountable. ex. Outside it was night. III. The use of
articles with proper nouns proper nouns can be divided
into two groups: a) given and b) descriptive names. a)
Given are conventional designations that tell us nothing
about the referent itself. b) Descriptive are derived from
common noun, usually with some defining modifier. Ex.
the United States of America. Descriptive names as a
rule include an article. The Netherlands, the Ukraine.
Names of people are among the most typical examples
of given names. When standing alone names of people
do not as a rule take an article. If however the name is
accompanied by an adj., the use of an article becomes
necessary. The definite article is included in the structure
of the phrase when the adj. denotes some permanent
quality of the referent of the noun. Ex. The immortal
Shakespeare.
Exceptions: the adj. young, old, poor, little do not take
the article because they are considered to be forming
part of the name itself. When the adj denotes a
temporary feature the indefinite article should be
included in the structure of the phrase: ex. He was
received by an unsually sad Marry-Ann. The definite
article is often used with family names in the plural: ex.
The Browns. The indefinite article may occur with a
family name meaning one member of that family: ex.
She was a Stewart. *Names combined with titles. Titles
are common nouns. When they stand by themselves they
take an article. Ex. Once upon a time there lived a king.
He is the king of Britain. When a territorial name is
included in a title, the definite article is also included.
Ex. The prince of Wales. When the title is combined
with a personal name the article is dropped. ex. Queen
Elizabeth, Prince Charles; exception the Emperor
Napoleon. *Titles of periodicals. The names of novels,
plays are usually treated as independent entities forming
a proper noun. The title itself may contain an article it its
own right. Ex. cf. The mill on the floss. and George
Elliots Mill on the floss. In referring to classical
literature the article is often added. Ex. The Prometheus
inchained. Names of paintings and statues are usually
accompanied by the artists name and take no articles.
Ex. Michelangelos David. Names of newspapers and
periodicals usually print the definite article: ex. The
daily news. The times. In referring to periodicals the
definite article should be used: he was reading The
Spectator. Names of ships always take the definite
article. Ex. The Titanic. Names of hotels: ex. The Ritz,
but Hotel Ritz. Names of countries. Given names take no
article: France, Holland, Nigeria. Descriptive names
usually include the definite article. The United States of
America. Names of districts the majority are given
names. ex. Wessex. Descriptive names take definite
article: The Balkans. Towns and villages nearly always
have given names: London, New York; the chief
exception is The Hague. Names of mountains: names of
mountain ranges are frequently formed of an
adj+mountain: The Rocky Mountains. Smaller or less

well known mountains or mountain peaks are given

names and take no article. Ex. Rila, Mount Everest.
Names of seas and oceans: these are always descriptive
and include the definite article: The Black Sea. Names of
lakes: Lake Michigan. Names of rivers: The Thames.
Buildings and institutions: a) West Minster Abbey, b)
adj+definition The National Gallery, c) The Tate
Gallery. IV. Specific/generic reference: common nouns
can be used in two different ways with specific or
generic reference. Generic reference is used to denote
what is typical or normal for members of a class. Ex.
tigers are dangerous animals. A tiger is a dangerous
animal. The French are amicable people. Specific
reference is observed in classes when the noun is used to
denote specific specimen of the class: ex. A lion and two
tigers are sleeping in the cage. The lion in the cage is
quite young. 1) Generic reference uncountable nouns
and plural countable nouns used with generic reference
do not take an article. Ex. He likes cheese, (uncountable
concrete). He likes literature (uncountable abstract). He
likes computer games. (countable plural). The use of a
defining modifier require the definite article. Ex. He
likes the music of Beethoven. Nationality words are used
with generic reference accompanied by the definite
article. Ex. The Turks captured Turnovo in 1393. Adjs
denoting personal qualities, when substantivized take the
definite article as a rule. Ex. The rich, the blind. Such
nouns are always used with plural verbs. Non-personal
adjs can be sunstantivized too. They take the definite
article and combine with singular verbs. Ex. The evil.
Common concrete nouns sometimes acquire abstract
meanings. In such cases they take no article. Ex. They
left town early in the morning. It is spring. 2) specific
reference the indefinite form is taken to be the
unmarked form in the system of definiteness. Its natural
to consider the indefinite as basic to the idea of
definiteness. The definite can be shown to be secondary
to the indefinite in the following . John bought a
computer and a CD player but later returned the CD
player. The use of the definite article in the second part
of the is dependent on the earlier mentioning of the
same noun with the same referent preceded by the
indefinite article. Ex. The computer John bought is
Japanese. These are two s that contain linguistic
reasons for the use of the definite article within the noun
phrase structure. In such cases we speak of linguistic
specific reference. Sometimes the definite article is used
with nouns whose reference is immediately understood
by the users of the language either because of the
cultural situation or because the referent is only one. ex.
It is in the press, the moon, the ground. In such cases we
speak of situational specific reference.